


Righteous Justice

by tatersalad5001



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: (basically: more gx characters in arc v! be the change you want to see in the world), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Background Relationships, Darkness, Duelling, Friendship, Gen, Heart of the Cards, Mild Language, Other Mentioned Characters Not Mentioned In Tags, Rebellion, back at class they never taught us this, befriending your local worst nightmare and other extreme sports, duel and non duel related sciences, suffering with a feel good ending, unnamed obelisk force members
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-26 10:03:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14399802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatersalad5001/pseuds/tatersalad5001
Summary: Something major was shifting in Duel Academy. It was obvious something was changing. But to an outside perspective, it was hard to say what that was, or how it was happening.Seemingly overnight, Duel Academy changed from a school that helped its students become better duelists to a school that prepared its students for war.The student body itself became very different, of course. Many prospective students changed their minds on attendance. The Academy began to attract some who had had no interest before, as well as repel some of the students who had been the most excited to attend.(”Well, shoot,” Jesse mumbled. “I guess the real question is...can we trust Jaden? I mean, I’m surprised you’re still here and well, honestly, if all that’s true. If he just loses control...”)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This has been a month long labor of inspiration and love, made longer in part by many, many real life commitments, but we are finally here and this is finally done and ready to post and I'm really glad! I really like Yugioh GX, I really like Yugioh Arc V, and I'm really glad I could combine them like this, into this final product. This was inspired a lot by [my friend](http://snmermaid.tumblr.com/), without whom this probably wouldn't exist, and I'm eternally grateful that [these two](http://mynamesaplant.tumblr.com/) are willing to put up with my shit, at least for now. Someday I may come back and add some bonus content (deleted scenes), but at this moment, here is the whole story.
> 
> During the process I started building a playlist for this story in my head, and this took a couple of extra of days after it was 'finished' because I wanted to finish that playlist and integrate it. There's one song per chapter, there'll be a link to a song at the top of each chapter, but you can also find a youtube playlist of the whole thing [here](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaI9zcs41SbEzEz0GAtTYC0e8Mb8XUTGI), or if you want some instrumental music to listen to while you read instead, I've been getting really into [Philip Glass' compositions](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSolwkmF9Jk&list=PLoo66X9VP8aQ4dmoz5nRA-9opoe23Vu3V) lately, or if that doesn't strike your fancy, I guess you can have my [playlist of various NES covers I've made of different songs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szlH5FpDzrc&list=PLaI9zcs41SbEibWZaT6gvfRh2Q_NVx6Xq). Or complete silence is fine, do what you want! Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> Some notes, before getting into it:  
> -everyone uses their dub names except for Serena/Celine, because I really like Serena and the change was unnecessary. she's only vaguely mentioned a few times anyway, i apologize if it gets confusing regardless.  
> -tag duels go vaguely by tcg rules rather than ocg rules (or, if you rather, not the usual rules in japan but the usual rules outside that area). i went over them and interpreted them to the best of my ability. there may be some inconsistencies and some inaccuracies on that. i apologize. dueling is a big part of this fic because this is well, arc v's fusion dimension, but it's not the main focus. if you see these possible inaccuracies, please quietly forgive me.  
> -not a lot of characters are using their actual anime decks. a lot of these are actually based off of, well, some decks i've been running/ran in duel links, so they aren't great. Jaden runs his anime (not including Neos nor Neo-Spacians) deck with some additions, Alexis is implied to run her anime deck, and arc v characters run their anime decks. anyone else is probably at least partially based off the anime but definitely some noticeable differences. (for example, not to say that Chazz definitely doesn't have the Ojamas, but you won't see him use them here.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> [ When you grow up, would you be the savior of the broken, the beaten and the damned?  
>  Will you defeat them, your demons and all the non-believers, the plans that they have made?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRKJiM9Njr8)  
> 

Something major was shifting in Duel Academy. It was obvious something was changing. But to an outside perspective, it was hard to say what that was, or how it was happening.

Seemingly overnight, Duel Academy changed from a school that helped its students become better duelists to a school that prepared its students for war.

This wasn’t a horrible thing. No, it was a noble war, a great cause. The world everyone lived in had been split into four pieces; they weren’t supposed to be apart, separate dimensions. The world was broken, sick, and Duel Academy was going to return it to the way it was supposed to be. Of course they would spearhead this change, since theirs was the most powerful of all the dimensions. And if the other dimensions didn’t agree...that’s why they had to be prepared for war. The others just didn’t understand.

Duel Academy no longer just trained the mind, but the body and emotions as well. The curriculum was drastically altered, and the attitudes of staff and students changed with it. And at the front of it all was the main Professor, Leo Akaba.

The student body itself became very different, of course. Many prospective students changed their minds on attendance. The Academy began to attract some who had had no interest before, as well as repel some of the students who had been the most excited to attend. This was no matter, as long as everyone remained loyal to the cause. Direct participation didn’t have to be mandatory.

Out of the expected crowd...

Some went to the Academy regardless. Aster Phoenix and Alexis Rhodes, of course. Zane Truesdale refused to be deterred. Chazz Princeton, at the insistence and demands of his family, attended as well. Not least of all, Axel Brodie was present.

Some stayed far away after this change. Zane refused to let his brother Syrus get involved, and Syrus had no arguments. Chumley Huffington opted out as quickly as possible. Jim Cook began to pursue his other interests instead. Jesse Anderson, never meeting the family he should have been destined to find, lost interest in dueling and the Academy altogether. Later, Jesse would become a not unsmall name in founding the resistance in the Fusion Dimension.

Others still, once in the Academy, soon left. Many of those in this crowd that were were in the first group found themselves defecting to the reistance at one point or another. Soon after Leo’s rise to power, one Dr. Crowler found himself resigning from the school’s staff. He had never signed up to teach students about all this. By this point, unfortunately, his famous Ancient Gear deck had become a staple of the school staff, and soon, it would be for the students as well.

But for some, the line between direct involvement and uninvolvement in Duel Academy couldn’t be so clearly defined.

When Leo heard about a child whose dueling sent his opponents into comas, he had been intrigued. This was a child with lots of power, who could surely be trained to becomd one of the Fusion Dimension’s greatest assets. So when the Professor located and recruited Serena and Yuri, he sought out this child, Jaden Yuki, as well. And so the three children began to learn as well as train.

Yuri and Serena excelled, as to be expected. And Jaden was great at first. But the school was taking a big toll on him, physically, mentally, emotionally. Soon, Leo was witness to Jaden’s abilities and powers as the Supreme King, controlling and corrupting his usual nature. It was a darkness and power that rivaled Zarc’s. And where Yuri was easy to keep in check and control as only a fourth of that monster, Jaden couldn’t be used so easily. It was simply unsafe for allies and opponents alike.

With Jaden unusable and dangerous, Duel Academy couldn’t afford to lose Jaden to the resistance. So instead he became something of an unofficial prisoner.

Though, perhaps that wasn't the best term for it. ’Prisoner’ would imply that Jaden was in opposition to Duel Academy, and wasn’t aligned with its goals. Jaden was simply too young and inexperienced to be able to really process it all. He didn’t have any sort of opinion on that which he didn’t understand. He stayed with Duel Academy, got a private area to himself (mostly), and no longer had to attend classes at all. He even was able to keep his duel disk, along with most of his cards.

It was a safety precaution more than anything. In that state, when the Supreme King’s powers were loose, Jaden had very little control. That darkness had nearly lashed out and try to turn against the Academy once without any intent from Jaden to do so. The Academy was safer this way. And if some enemy were to invade and took a wrong turn, well, it’d work out all the better.

It was out of sight and out of mind, for Jaden and the Supreme King. Jaden was left to his own devices most of the time.

The worst damage, however, had already been done.

The Supreme King had been unleashed through extreme stress and pressure. And once it had been, it was hard to keep in check. Even with most of the original stressors removed, Jaden simply...wasn’t himself much of the time. He became a being of corrupted darkness, a shell of his regular self. Isolation brought on its own stress, too, which didn’t help matters. He was convinced he’d done something wrong, but wasn’t sure what that was, or how to fix it.

This was the state Jaden Yuki was in when he reached the age of most of Duel Academy’s freshmen. 

This was the state Jaden Yuki was in when Bastion Misawa began to decide on his own future.

Bastion was a duelist more by hobby than anything. A good duel could be a good way to pass the time, and he enjoyed all the possible strategies the game afforded him. The strategies, the deck building, was almost more fun than the game itself. That’s what he dueled for. He dueled for fun. Not for power, or war, or whatever the Duel Academy’s Professor was after. So when the time came to consider enrolling at Duel Academy, Bastion had to pass it up.

His real passions were in science. Often, he liked to look into the sciences of dueling itself, especially duel energy. It was a combination of two of his favorite things, after all.

So Bastion threw himself into studying science. He bounced between a few different fields of science, doing well at all of them, not that there was any doubt. His main studies were in physics and chemistry, two of his best and favorite subjects within science. He picked up duel science more as a minor; it wasn’t as big of a field, and jobs within it were harder to come by. It was more out of interest than anything. Still, in everything he did, colleagues and professors alike were impressed. He soared ahead in his classes, in his grades, and he was even set to graduate early. His name began to carry a bit of a reputation with it. By the time Bastion earned the two doctorates he pursued, he was fairly accomplished. He’d written a few published works that were gaining him more and more attention.

When Leo heard about this doctor who held a lot of fame for hos young age, he was impressed. When Leo learned about the doctor’s interest in dueling science, he was interested.

When Leo read this doctor’s paper on theories that humans could become duel monster cards, it changed everything.

This paper was far from the first theory Bastion had written about that he had no wish to see become a reality. He was well aware he was playing with fire, here. Once the theories were out, it was only a matter of time before attempts at implementing them were made. Yet, his morbid curiosity got the better of him. This particular paper had been inspired by a passing comment from one of his colleagues, the comment itself long forgotten by now. Someone else had insisted he publish the paper. He expected nothing to come out of it. It was a niche interest. The paper would go out, and he would return to the most recent project he’d found himself on: permanent pathways between dimensions.

It was a shock when Bastion learned his research into turning people into cards was being funded. Someone was interested in his duel theories after all.

His next paper was something of an atonement for the previous one: turning cards back into people, given the cards had been people once before. His funding continued. Somehow, he found himself delving deeper into the subject. He was writing equations, making hypotheses, researching specialized scenarios. If someone was turned into a card, then that card was ripped in half, could it still turn into a person again? He looked a bit into some technology aspects of it all as well. Yet, he never tried to make something that could accomplish all this, and put his science into actual science. How could he? What kind of person truly wanted that ability?

Before too long, he had an answer. Leo Akaba of Duel Academy. Bastion now knew the source of his funding, knew he’d basically been working for the Academy for awhile now. The Academy was looking to put his science into use, and they still wanted his help. They wanted him to actually implement all these findings.

With the illusion gone, this wasn’t the only project put Bastion Misawa on. There was another project attempting to merge dimensions together, and he was to help on that one as well. That project had him feeling equally uneasy, and almost queasy. This was never what Bastion wanted. The only reason his name was on these projects now, that he was physically in the Academy itself, was because he was never really asked at any point if he wanted any part of this step. Bastion was almost at a loss of words for that. What was he supposed to do about it?

Leo Akaba was terrifying, one of the most terrifying people Bastion had ever been in the presence of. Bastion had a feelimg quitting wasn’t an option, or at least not the best option. He stuck to the shadows, secetly sabotaging the projects he could never see come to life. If he was careful, maybe it could work out.

Still, Leo was one of the most terrifying people Bastion knew. Bastion was found out sooner than he anticipated. He was branded a traitor. And so Bastion was escorted to the holding area, Duel Academy’s version of ‘jail’, to stop and control dissenters.

Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise Bastion was caught this early. He could imagine that later on, once the experiments were finished, he would have been turned into a card for his actions instead.

As he was escorted to the holding area, Leo gave him a tight-lipped smile.

”Acts of betrayal seem to be on the rise lately,” he informed Bastion. “We no longer have the room to hold one person per cell. And your cell-mate, I think you’ll find, is quite interesting.”

"Are they now?" Bastion replied. "What makes you say that?" 

"He holds a strong power. The boy is controlled by darkness," Leo answered. "He was once going to be one of the strongest weapons I had at my disposal. I daresay he might be more powerful than the evil I intend to fight against. But it turns out, not even I can control him. His loyalties still lie with us, the Academy, the Fusion Dimension. But his darkness caused him to lash out against us once, and I cannot afford for it to happen again. I won't bore you with the details now, though. You'll have plenty of time to get to know The Supreme King of darkness personally."

The slight tremble in Leo's voice, that he was trying to hide, was not unnoticed. Bastion frowned. This...Supreme King, was possibly more powerful than the 'Zarc' that Leo had mentioned before, on more than once occasion. And this definitely wasn't a bluff, either. Leo was  _scared_ of this person, whoever he was, and Leo never showed fear to anyone. Many people, Bastion included, assumed it was just impossible to make Leo scared of anything.

This Supreme King put fear into the unscareable, and Bastion was going to be staying in a tiny room with him, for who knew how long. Well, Bastion supposed he was getting what he deserved in Leo's perspective on this one. He probably wouldn't last a week.

A door into a tiny room was opened. There wasn't much; the room contained a set of bunk beds in the corner, a chair and a desk, another door off to the side that probably lead to some kind of bathroom. This room didn't look like it was intended to be part of some kind of prison. (Bastion had his doubts than any part of the school was meant to be that way, but things change.) 

And in this room was where Bastion met the so-called Supreme King for the first time.

It was obvious this person had to be the Supreme King, given no one else was even there. He was about the same age as Bastion, dressed in the red Academy uniform. His messy brown hair stuck out in a few places; it was probably worse in the back, though Bastion couldn't see from where he stood. He looked up as the door opened, staring back and forth between Bastion and Leo. He frowned. He'd been laying in the bottom bunk, shoes still on his feet despite being both indoors and on a bed. He sat up. He'd been shuffling a deck of cards when the door opened, but now he paused. A duel disk was lying on the floor next to him. It was an older model, made by a company that was mostly out of business. Bastion had his doubts that Solid Vision existed on it.

The Supreme King still had his cards and a duel disk. Bastion's main deck (the others left at home) and his duel disk, the newest model available given to him by the Academy, had been taken from him the moment he'd been found out.

'His loyalties still lie with us.'

Damn, this didn't bode well.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [I am thinkin' bout the days](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDZbpEgQ6i0)  
>  We lead ourselves astray  
> In more than many ways

Jaden's eyes settled on the Professor. "What's up?" he asked.

"You're getting a new roommate," Leo said simply. He shoved Bastion into the room, and Bastion heard the door close behind him. 

Bastion stared silently at the Supreme King. They were alone in this tiny room now. He had no idea what to say; what could he even say? The Supreme King stared back at him once more, still frowning. He seemed at a loss for words as well. For a few minutes neither of them moved, and neither of them spoke. The room fell into silence.

Eventually, the Supreme King stood up, sitting his deck on the edge of the bed. Bastion was frozen, he had no idea what to do, or what to expect. The Supreme King ran a hand through the back of his hair.

"Uh, yo. Name's Jaden Yuki." He tilted his head. "Who're you?"

"...Bastion Misawa." The words were hard to get out, he almost couldn't say them at all.

"...I guess you're staying here now?" Jaden shrugged. His dark brown eyes looked away again. "You can have the top bunk, if you want. I've been using the bottom one. There's uh, not a lot to do here? It's pretty boring, sorry about that."

The Supreme King was talking like this was some kind of social visit; Bastion didn't know if he should laugh or what. He settled on a nervous chuckle. "I wasn't expecting there to be."

Jaden laughed back, quietly. "I guess that's good. Um." He pointed back at his deck on the bed. "If you're here at Duel Academy, I assume you duel?"

"Sometimes, but not right now. I'm afraid I don't have my cards on me," Bastion replied, a bit bitterly.

"Oh, I see." Jaden gave him a hesitant smile. "Don't worry about it. I'm out of practice. You'd probably beat me anyway."

Bastion looked closely at him again. This kid was supposed to be the Supreme King? Someone who scared even the Professor? He just seemed like a quiet kid, maybe a little goofy. This conversation held no hint of the person the Professor had described. Now he was just...confused. Could this possibly be that same person?

No. Bastion hadn't imagined the fear he'd heard in the Professor's voice. That was real. 

Still, something wasn't adding up, here. It'd take time to figure it out, but luckily, Bastion seemed to have plenty of that at the moment. You know, unless the 'Supreme King' cut his life short after all.

It became pretty obvious fairly clearly that Jaden was having trouble interacting with people. But he seemed eager for that interaction, he continuously tried to strike conversation with Bastion, even though it was incrediby awkward for both of them. (Bastion still wasn’t sure how to feel about him at all, with his clashing impressions.) Their conversations were usually pretty short, and usually Jaden just telling Bastion something he thought he might need to know about their ‘cell’, which was really just an old, barren dorm room, if Bastion was going to be honest. Bastion was no psychologist, but his best hypothesis was that Jaden probably didn’t get to talk to people very often. And who knew how long Jaden had been living like this, given that Jaden’s presence and existence was clearly not well known among the Academy.

It was an awful life for anyone, no matter what Jaden was capable of, or what he was truly like.

“Hey.” Jaden poked his head out from the lower bunk, interrupting Bastion’s line of thought. Jaden seemed to spend a lot of time just laying in bed, spacing out or some similar activity. Bastion was sitting at the room’s desk. “Why are you here?”

”Huh?” Bastion blinked. That question came from nowhere. A couple of days had passed by now, and the subject hadn’t come up before. Nothing even close to it, actually. He’d assumed Jaden just didn’t care. Why ask now?

”Why are you here?” Jaden repeated. “No one’s ever been here this long before. Why did they put you in here?”

Bastion rested his chin on one of his hands, elbow sitting on the table. “There weren’t any empty spots to put me. The Professor said I have to stay here with you.”

”Why’d he say that?” Jaden asked.

Bastion glared over at the door. “I wasn’t here to be a student,” he explained. “I was here to work on a couple of projects for the Academy. But...I didn’t want the projects to be completed. So I purposefully tampered with them, made them not work. I was caught and branded a traitor, and now I’m here.”

”Huh.” Jaden rolled over and stretched his arms. “I guess that makes sense, then.”

”What do you mean?” It was Bastion’s turn to ask questions, now.

”I’ve been here for awhile. But I wasn’t always here.” Jaden shrugged. “I used to take classes here, and I trained with two other students near my age. The Professor said I was really good. He said I was going to be a hero for the Academy, like my cards.”

”Your cards.” Bastion glanced over at Jaden’s deck, which was currently turned face down on the edge of the desk. He still hadn't looked at it, or spared it much of a thought other than the fact that it existed. Jaden messed with it frequently, though; he'd shuffle his cards, flip through it, sort everything out as if preparing to make adjustments, only to remember that he couldn't make any changes, leading him to silently give up. 

"Yeah. They're Elemental Heroes." Jaden reached over and drew the top card off of his deck, handing it to Bastion without looking at it. Bastion glanced it over. It was called Elemental Hero Sparkman. No effect, fairly standard stats... He had to admit that Elemental Heroes weren't something he'd seen all that often. He couldn't recall much about that series now, after everything else that had happened. "I like them a lot. When they work together they can become really strong. They're, uh, they're my favorites."

"Hmm." Bastion replaced the card back on the deck and looked back over at Jaden. "And you said you trained with two other students, right? Who were they?" he pressed.

Jaden folded his hands together behind his head. "I think they were a little younger than me," he mused. "I think their names were...Serena and Yuri?"

Bastion sucked in a breath through his teeth. He knew those names. Anyone who ever stepped foot near the Academy knew those names. Those were Professor Leo's two most prized studets, the best of the best, incredibly loyal and incredibly skilled. And Jaden used to be among their ranks? He couldn't see any trace of the 'Supreme King' Leo had mentioned in him, but even if Bastion assumed that was a lie (it wasn't), Jaden certainly had to be  _something._

"I don't remember why the Professor put me here," Jaden went on when Bastion gave no reply. "I don't remember...anything that happened. It's all a blank. One day I woke up, and I was in here." He frowned up at the bottom of the top bunk bed. "Now I'm not allowed to do anything anymore. But I must've done something wrong, right? Otherwise I'd still be in class. That's what I figured, anyway. And if you're in here because you did something bad, then it makes sense."

Bastion sighed. He still didn't have the full picture here. Not even close, he still knew next to nothing about Jaden. But still...

"The Professor thinks what I did was wrong," Bastion agreed. "I'm here because I went against his plans. But I still think I did the right thing. The projects I was working on...they weren't things that should ever be finished. Nothing good could ever come of it. So maybe...you didn't do anything wrong, either. The Professor just thinks so."

"No way." Jaden stared at Bastion, wide-eyed. "The Professor's always right. It can't be that."

Bastion dropped that line of thought immediately. It clearly wouldn't go anywhere, not with Jaden. 

That was the longest conversation Bastion held with Jaden for some time. 

While Bastion was still around, Jaden began to open up more, little by little. They still didn't talk for long, or that often, but it became easier for both of them. Jaden became more used to having someone else around, and Bastion slowly figured Jaden out a little more. It was clear that Jaden had no grounds for opposing or even questioning the Academy. According to the rumors, Serena and Yuri were recruited by Leo at a young age; if the same thing had happened to Jaden, that made sense. Jaden wasn't here because he was against the Academy. He was here because he was  _dangerous_.

Even now, Bastion was having trouble piecing that one together. The more information he had, the more it seemed Leo hadn't been lying about Jaden. Still, all the new information just made it that much harder to figure out. Jaden was here, imprisoned. Leo was afraid of him for some reason. Jaden had a blank in his memory before he'd been imprisoned. But Leo had described him as evil, controlled by darkness. Jaden supposedly held some kind of incredible power, despite being allowed to keep his cards and his duel disk. Bastion couldn't see it, though. He seemed like a good person. Confused and misled, perhaps, but Bastion wouldn't exactly describe him as evil or dark, or even out of control.

Well.

Not then, he wouldn't have. But things change, faster than Bastion might have preferred.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [You're out of control...  
>  You still lack in experience, too bad, too close, too late to notice where you are](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjCXl9KdzOA)

He'd fallen asleep sitting at the room's desk. The desk was where Bastion did his best thinking in this cell, and he had a lot of thinking to do on the Case of Jaden Yuki. Interrogating Jaden wouldn't do him much good at this point, since Jaden was about as clueless at this point as he was. That night, Bastion hadn't felt like gathering the energy to climb into bed and sleep there. He'd just...fallen asleep without thinking about it, about thirty layers deep in a hypothetical. Often, when Bastion did fall asleep at that desk, he didn't sleep well, or for long. Not that it mattered, since time was rather relative here. He couldn't begin to guess the time of day; he could only judge his sleep patterns and habits by how he felt when he woke up. That particular night, however, he seemed to be sleeping relatively well.

Something woke Bastion up at some point. He didn't know what. Maybe it was something outside the room, or maybe his brain decided it was just time to wake up. Regardless, once Bastion was awake, it took about half a second for his tiredness to turn into confusion.

Jaden Yuki's hand slapped itself against his mouth.

This was a highly unusual situation. For starters, Jaden spent more time on his bed than out of it. It was weird for him to be up at all. Beyond that, Jaden wasn't really a touchy person. He never really touched Bastion at all, not even to get his attention. Even if Jaden were to touch some part of him, throwing a hand over his mouth was probably one of the last things Bastion would have expected. Jaden was standing beside him, leaning against the wall, being absolutely quiet. At this point, Bastion had yet to experience any event where Jaden wanted them both to be quiet. But, here he was, somehow starting the day off like this.

Then, Bastion's emotions decided to throw him on a roller coaster of feelings. It only took another half of a second for his confusion to turn into fear.

Bastion had felt fear in relation to Jaden before, that was undisputed. But this was a different kind of fear. Leo had told him what Jaden was supposed to be capable of, that was more of a learned fear. This fear was much more instinctive. Bastion hadn't been awake nearly long enough to know what was happening, yet he immediately knew that he should be afraid. He could feel a pressure in his chest, the air around him felt charged, and his fight or flight response was leaning heavily towards  _flight_. (Or, it would be if that was an option. There was definitely no escape from here, yet Bastion's survival instincts still screamed at him to not fight.) All of it was centered around Jaden. And amidst all of this, Bastion was well aware that something was very different about him.

He glanced up at Jaden's face. Jaden's eyes, normally a dark brown, were now a sharp gold color.

All of Bastion's instincts related to fear ramped themselves up to a solid eleven. Bastion didn't move. He wasn't sure he could. Even if he could, he had the feeling that if he did he wouldn't be spending much more time in this cell.

It was a few, long moments before Bastion realized he could hear someone talking outside. Ah. Jaden was probably trying to listen in on the conversation, then. That explained one out of about....fifty mysteries that had just presented themselves in less than a minute. He wouldn't be able to hear as well if Bastion started making noise. That didn't explain the eyes, or the completely different feel of the room, or Bastion's automatic fear reaction, or what was going on with Jaden right now. But, if he was patient (and lucky), the answers would present themselves, if he was still around to find them. So he stayed quiet for now. He had to admit, he was curious about this conversation as well, now that he'd noticed it.

Of course, Bastion was way too nervous to make out most of it. He could only hear fractions of sentences at best. But it sounded like they might be talking about the experiment with turning people into cards. He thought he heard his own name mentioned at least once. From what he could tell, though, it sounded like the project wasn't making much progress these days. That was a relief. Too soon, and after an eternity, the conversation ended. Jaden released Bastion and walked away, settling into a sitting position in a corner of the room. Bastion watched him, his hands gripping tightly on the desk. Once Jaden sat down, Bastion turned around, now sitting backwards on the chair.

"So. That's what you were working on. You were researching how to turn people into cards," Jaden stated calmly. It wasn't a question.

Bastion frowned. "That's right."

"You were more involved than I thought. It sounds like you practically started the whole thing," Jaden went on. Clearly, he'd heard more than Bastion had. Jaden leaned forward, his gold eyes feeling like they were staring straight through Bastion's soul. "But you didn't want to finish it."

The room still felt completely different. Bastion could still feel that pressure, the way the air felt like it was trying to weigh him down. The automatic, strangling fear, all centered around Jaden. None of it vanished with the previous conversation. Bastion swallowed. "I never wanted to start it," he replied. "I never imagined it would go this far. It was all supposed to stay theoretical. I just...knew it was possible, and I wanted to know how. I never wanted to turn actual people into cards."

"Why not?" Jaden asked.

"I...Of course I don't want to!" Bastion sputtered. "They're real people, I can't just... I still can't begin to figure out why the Professor wants to do it. Maybe if I'd done more work on the Arc Project, but... Solving equations is one thing, how could I turn actual people into cards?"

"That's easy," Jaden told him. "Because they're weak."

Bastion stared at him. 

"Weakness has no place in this world. Only the strong should survive, that's how the world works," Jaden told him. "If someone gets turned into a card when your project's done, that means they were weak. If they were strong, they wouldn't let it happen to them. In the end, it's what they deserve. Isn't that how it should be?"

"What if someone turned you into a card?" Bastion challenged. He didn't want to argue that mentality right now; Jaden didn't seem able to do so before when it had come up, and he still was...whatever this was that was happening. Still, his own fear wasn't about to stop him from pointing out a possible flaw in this logic.

Jaden lifted his chin. "It wouldn't. I'm not weak," he answered. "But if it somehow did, that would mean that I'm weak, so I would deserve it. That would be how it should be."

Bastion leaned backwards. "No one deserves to be turned into a card. I can't agree with you on that, Jaden."

Jaden smirked and shook his head. "You can call me The Supreme King." 

Oh.

This might help answer some questions. 

The Supreme King seemed to be done digging for his own answers, since he shut down any attempts at further conversation. Personally, Bastion wasn’t too disappointed. He still wsn’t close to having all the answers, but talking to The Supreme King like this wasn’t doing him any favors. He felt awful, almost sick to his stomach at this point. Some silence would do him some good.

Carefully, Bastion got up and climbed into his own bed. He wanted to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [I'm tired of being what you want me to be](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7cQU86CDB0)  
>  I don't know what you're expecting of me  
> Every step that I take is another mistake to you

He didn’t know how long he slept for, but Bastion felt himself slipping in and out of fitful dreams. Dreams where his research was completed. Dreams where The Supreme King had more than just a few questions waiting for him. He slept poorly. For the few moments he slipped into consciousness here and there, he could still feel that heavy, fear-inducing aura radiating off The Supreme King, which certainly didn’t help.

It was awhile before he felt rested enough and calm enough to process what had happened in that conversation. As it happened, the feeling The Supreme King brought into the room was gone. Bastion doubted that was a coincidence.

It was a lot to digest.

Jaden had been almost a completely different person. That was indisputable; everything about him had changed. It wasn’t just his eye color. The way he spoke, it was obvious he’d been a lot more analytical that day. He hadn’t been trying to confirm the conclusions he’d drawn about Bastion, he stated those as fact. He’d been correct, too. Normally, Jaden wouldn’t be so certain about something he’d just overheard. Not to mention the way he talked about other people, especially as anyone he perceived as weak. Jaden, from what he could tell, would probably usually not word it so brutally, even if he held that opinion. Then, he’d spoken with a force, a brutality, a strength behind his words Jaden normally didn’t have. His behavior, too. Jaden was still struggling, but he was fairly open and talkative. At that point, though, he’d grown incredibly quiet, only speaking to gain information. Not to mention the fear and pressure Bastion had felt, that was an obvious difference, too.

From this, Bastion could form the easiest and probably most accurate hypothesis: Jaden and The Supreme King were separate entities within Jaden Yuki. 

(Bastion had a suspicion that The Supreme King believed him to be ‘weak’. It was a terrifying thought, but thankfully not the most pressing issue at hand. Despite his apparent ‘weakness’, he was somehow still standing. Metaphorically. Not literally, since he was still laying in bed.)

However, this brought up some interesting points. Leo had described The Supreme King as a creature of darkness, and Bastion had no doubt in his mind now that this was accurate. You could just feel darkness in The Supreme King’s presence. Leo had described The Supreme King as evil. Bastion was still on the fence on that one. He wasn’t usually quick to judge anything, and he had just truly met The Supreme King, after all. But perhaps most interesting of all was that Leo had mentioned The Supreme King was out of control.

If Leo could control and weaponize The Supreme King, he would. Yet Leo considered Jaden dangerous and kept him here. Everything seemed to imply that Jaden couldn’t control The Supreme King’s powers, or even the king himself. But how far did that go? Could Jaden at least choose when The Supreme King was unleashed, or did something else cause it? Did Jaden have any memories of his actions and conversations as The Supreme King? He didn’t remember whatever The Supreme King had done to hurt the Academy; was that an outlier? How separate were Jaden and The Supreme King? Did they share the same opinions and thoughts? Some of this, at least, was solvable right now.

”Hey, Jaden.” Bastion rolled over on his side to look down into the room. Jaden had moved to sit in the chair. The Supreme King, definitively, was gone for now.

Jaden glanced up. “Heya, pal, what’s up?” he asked.

”How do you feel...” Bastion hesitated. How should he word this? “How do you feel about someone who loses a duel? Or duelists who might not be so good at dueling?”

”Oh, is this related to your project? Turning people into cards? Are they planning on doing that to duelists when they lose?” Jaden tilted his head. “We already discussed this, right? You’re only strong if you can win. And you have to be strong to survive, that’s how the world works. If you’re weak, it’ll catch up to you eventually, whether you’re turned into a card or something else,” he answered with a shrug.

”What if someone important to you was turned into a card?” Bastion pressed.

Jaden shrugged to me. “Everyone important is either too strong for that to happen, or they’re a card anyway.”

Bastion glanced over at Jaden’s deck with a frown. It was clearer now that Jaden and The Supreme King seemed to share memories. Bastion had never mentioned the subject of his research to Jaden outside the presence of The Supreme King, and Jaden remembered that consequent conversation. More than that, Bastion hadn't...technically brought it up himself. He hadn't meant to go in that direction, he had just been trying to gauge how Jaden's opinions on other people compared to The Supreme King's. Jaden directed the conversation there himself.

(Technically, Bastion had no idea what the Academy intended to do once it had the technology to turn people into cards. He had the sneaking suspicion, though, that it would be related to opponents who lost against the Academy. He hadn't been eager to find out, and still wasn't.)

Still, a few questions were answered. Jaden and the Supreme seemed to share memories, and Jaden's opinions seemed to align with The Supreme King's opinions, at least somewhat. The Supreme King seemed to lean more towards thinking 'weak' people deserved a bad fate, while Jaden leaned more towards thinking that a 'weak' person's fate was inevitably bad, but the core idea was there: being strong was the only option, because bad things come to those who aren't. It was a mentality that shied away from being concerned with anyone who might be 'lesser'. 

And here, Bastion could begin to form another hypothesis. At least to a point, Jaden and The Supreme King shared both memories and opinions. How far this went, however, was still unclear. By words alone, it was hard to tell if Jaden despised perceived weakness or not, or if The Supreme King had memories of events that Jaden did not, or even the other way around. This wasn't something he would figure out overnight.

(Apparently, everyone Jaden valued was perceived as 'strong', or they were a Duel Monsters card anyway. Bastion paused a bit at that.)

As Bastion mulled over these thoughts, Jaden spoke again, forcing him to push it all aside.

"Are you worried?"

"What?" Bastion looked back at Jaden again. He was studying Bastion's face with a frown. Unconsciously, Basion mirrored his expression.

"About your project, I mean," Jaden clarified. "If they're still working on it without you, there's a chance it could get finished. You said you never wanted it to start."

That wasn't Bastion expected. His mind had been pouring over a different subject entirely. But, if Bastion was honest... "I am," he answered. "I'm just... There's nothing I can do about it now. At least when I was working on it, I could slow it down. Maybe even stop it entirely, someday. Worrying about it won't help anything, it'll just..." He looked away. "I wish there was something I could do. I wish I never started researching any of it in the first place." It was a small comfort that his removal from the project was still slowing it down, at least. Still, this was a self-destructive thought process. Once he went down this road, it was hard to stop, and all it lead to was doubt, guilt, and fear for the future.

Jaden seemed to think this over for a moment, then nodded. "I see." He glanced over at his deck, then back up at Bastion again with a smile. "Hey, I haven't really shown you my cards yet, right? You wanna check them out? We could talk out duel strategies!"

"Sure, why not?" Bastion responded, smiling back a little. "I haven't thought about dueling in ages, it'll be fun." For the first time in hours, he pulled himself out of bed, climbed down to the floor, and sat on the floor next to Jaden. Jaden grabbed his deck, and together the two of them went through each of the cards in Jaden's deck.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Hello, can I say that there's something wrong with this place?  
>  I got time just to waste](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxYAxugxV_0)

For the first time, Bastion was able to get a good look at the Elemental Heroes series, and piece together some of the strategies involved. Most of the monsters had no effect and average stats at best; it was a deck built for fusing Heroes into stronger Heroes with powerful abilities, and making those Heroes stronger with other traps and spells. A deck based around fusion. It wasn’t unexpected for Duel Academy, since fusion methods had become a big staple of the institution’s dueling. At first, Bastion found it odd that this series was unfamiliar to him. Many duelists at Duel Academy ran similar decks to each other, and honor students were given decks similar to the one used by the former professor Dr. Crowler: an Ancient Gear deck.

Then again, he remembered, Serena and Yuri had their own personal, unique decks. Jaden had been at that level, and used to hold that same prestige. Perhaps it wasn’t so strange.

”You have some really interesting cards here,” Bastion noted as he flipped from Elemental Hero Flame Wingman to Elemental Hero Steam Healer. “They have some pretty powerful effects.” Internally, Bastion decided, he wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of a duel against these monsters. He would be glad if he never had to duel against these monsters at all.

Jaden’s monsters weren’t the only force in his deck to be reckoned with. His spells and traps helped balance out his deck well, too. A Draining Shield could be the difference between a win and a lose, after all. Under completely different corcimstances, perhaps, it would be fun to try to defeat this deck.

”Thanks!” Jaden beamed at him. “My cards have gotten me out of some pretty tough jams. I like them a lot.”

”I don’t doubt it,” Bastion assured him. Some of the cards were a bit bent or curved, a couple of others looked like the card art was peeling away a bit. This deck was definitely well-used and well-loved, even if not necessarily well-cared for. 

“I know you don’t have your deck here,” Jaden chattered on, his voice rising and the smile on his face refusing to fade. “But maybe we could like. Do pretend duels? Or go through strategies? Or something? It’d be better than just doing nothing all day, since that’s what I usually do.”

”It probably would.” Bastion nodded. “I might just hold you to that.”

The two of them spent more time, on and off, on Jaden’s cards. As it turned out, Jaden's deck wasn't the full extent of the cards he owned; he had other cards stored in the room as well, still following the Elemental Hero series, which allowed him to customize his deck. (Not that it did him a lot of good here, but...) There weren't enough of these cards to make a second full deck, which would allow them to duel each other, but it let them both talk out different strategies to see if any improvements to Jaden's deck could be made. This was mostly what they did together. They compared cards, seeing which ones were the best for Jaden to have in his deck. At other times, they pretended they were dueling another opponent, trying out strategies in real time. Once or twice, they tried splitting Jaden's deck in half to almost pretend to duel each other, but this proved difficult. 

It was fun. The more often they talked about cards, and got their minds off of their current situation, the more Bastion's spirits were lifted. Jaden seemed happier, too. He became more talkative, and smiled more often. Jaden was able to get used to his cards and his strategies again, after not having to use them for so long. Bastion became more familiar with Jaden's cards, too. If it came down to it, he felt, he could duel rather well with Jaden's deck.

"I might take Dark Catapaulter out of my deck," Jaden mused at one point, glancing over at Bastion. "It doesn't work the best with my other cards, you know?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Bastion agreed, looking it over. "I don't think it'd be a bad idea."

However, these weren't the only conversations the two boys held. As much as Bastion would like to forget about his current position, imprisoned within Duel Academy, it was constantly pressing on his mind. It was impossible to forget. He thought about the project turning people into cards just as often. At times, he couldn't help worrying about it all. How long was the Professor going to keep Jaden and him in this room? What would happen if they were able to leave? What was happening outside while they were stuck here? What did Duel Academy plan to do with all its research projects? Why did Leo want to be able to turn people into cards? What did Leo plan to do with the Arc Project? There were so many unknowns, and so little Bastion could do to figure out. Once in awhile, he and Jaden could overhear conversations going on outside, but those only gave so much information. Inevitably, they'd end up talking about some of it, whether the subjects were brought up by Bastion, Jaden, or someone else they overheard.

One day, Jaden poked his head out from his bed, peeked up at Bastion, who was laying in his bed, and asked, "Why don't you like your project?"

"My project?" Bastion repeated, looking back down at him.

"Yeah, the project with the cards. You started it, but you don't want it to be finished. You don't want anyone to be turned into a card," Jaden clarified. Ah, right, now Bastion was following better. "Why not?"

Fuck, how should he explain this one? "Turning people into cards is...it's bad. If someone's turned into a card, everything for them ends there. Anything they wanted to do or were supposed to do doesn't matter anymore. As a card, they can't do anything. They're just...gone." And if someone was turned into a card, it could end up being permanent. Bastion had done some preliminary research and calculations on turning cards back into people, but Duel Academy hadn't done nearly so much research into that aspect of the process. Leo might not want to turn cards back into people at all, for all Bastion knew. "It's not just that, either," he went on. "Everyone has people they care about, and people that care about them. Family and friends. That person will just disappear from their lives, and they'll notice. It'll hurt them badly. It'll have a huge impact, and not just on the people that are turned into cards. If Duel Academy starts turning people into cards, people will turn against it. I can't..." Bastion ran a hand down the side of his face. "I can't think of a good reason to even do it in the first place."

Jaden stared up at him silently, expression neutral. Eventually, he said, "I don't have anyone like that."

"Like what?"

"Like family, or... anyone that would be upset if I was gone." Jaden looked over at the door. "Apparently I did something that hurt Duel Academy, and...I'm not important here anymore. Even before Duel Academy, I hurt everyone that hung out with me. They all ended up in the hospital. So, uh." He shrugged and laughed a little. "It'd probably be fine if someone like me was turned into a card, right?"

Bastion's eyes widened. "That's not true.” Even if Leo wouldn’t be bothered all that much... “I would care if you were gone. I don’t want you gone, I don’t think anyone would benefit from that. You don’t deserve to be turned into a card.” Did Jaden really not consider them friends at this point? Bastion tried not to dwell on it. “Besides, I’m still here. And I’m perfectly fine after being here with you this long. So there shouldn’t be anything for you to worry about.”

Jaden stared blankly back at him. “That can't be right.”

Bastion frowned.

”Ever since we overheard that one conversation, sometimes you just...look at me weird,” Jaden explained. “You avoided me for most of the day after that, too. I don’t know what it is, my memory of it’s kinda hazy, but...I must’ve done something, right? Don’t say it’s not me, because I can tell it is. Something happened.”

Bastion ran a hand through his hair. That was hard to explain, too. Maybe even harder, and he wasn’t even sure Jaden understood his first explanation.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [So what if you can see the darkest side of me?  
>  I can't control myself](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6CEjG-bCVM)

Bastion pulled himself off the toilet, arms wrapped around his stomach. As the toilet flushed behind him, he stumbled towards the sink.

A few days ago, his stomach had decided to rebel against the rest of his body. He couldn't say he was all that surprised. If anything, he'd figured this would have happened sooner. His stomach was cramping up and sending him to the bathroom without much notice. Once he was there, he usually had to sit there for awhile, forcing him to hog up the bathroom. It was beginning to smell bad in there, too. Thankfully, Jaden didn't seem to notice, or at the very least he didn't care. Still, Bastion would rather not have to deal with it at all.

There'd been a single, wonderful day where his stomach had left him alone. He thought he was finally getting over whatever this was. Then, the next day, it was back to square one.

After washing his hands, Bastion looked at himself closely in the mirror. Normally, he made an effort to keep his hair looking like its normal self. Since this stomach business started, however, he simply couldn't be bothered. His hair was tangled up and sticking out all over the place, making him almost look like...a mad scientist. He frowned. Maybe he should put some effort into fixing his hair today. His stomach was momentarily giving him a break, after all, so this would be the best time to do it. Deciding on this course of action, he stuck to the mirror a few minutes longer, fixing up his hair. And as he did so, he continued to...stare. He looked exhausted. Looking at himself now, it was easy to tell he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. His Academy uniform, a bit different from the standard student uniform as well as the specialized uniforms students like Jaden wore, was smelly, wrinkly, and just looked depressing. It's not like he had a lot of options for washing them; he only had the one outfit anymore. Overall, he just looked horrible. But at the very least, he could make himself look presentable.

Once he accomplished that task, he dragged himself back out of the bathroom and climbed into bed. Jaden was still asleep, and Bastion felt like he could really use the rest. He probably needed it. Carefully, he laid down and closed his eyes, and waited for sleep to embrace him once again.

About ten minutes later, before Bastion could properly fall asleep, something loud crashed into the room. Bastion sat up and blinked. A giant leg had kicked through the door, creating a hole. Someone entered the room through the hole. It was a girl, probably about his and Jaden's age. She looked around with a frown.

"I wasn't sure what to expect from the Academy's 'prison', but this wasn't what I..." she trailed off. After taking in the room, she turned towards the beds. "Listen, we're going to--" She cut herself off as she first looked at Jaden, still sleeping somehow, and then at Bastion, who was trying to get used to the idea of being awake. She made eye contact with him. "Dr. Misawa?!"

"That's correct." Bastion slowly climbed down from the top bunk. Once he was down, he leaned against the side of the bed for support. "Who are you? What's going on here?" he asked. Once he got the words out, he winced. His voice sounded off, probably from how tired he felt.

"My name is Alexis Rhodes," she answered. "And we're going to get you out of here."

Instantly, Bastion was fully awake, his stomach issues the furthest thing from his mind. "Thank goodness." He swiped Jaden's cards and duel disk up as quickly as possible. He pulled Jaden out of bed, ignoring Jaden's grumblings. "We need to go," he told Jaden quietly.

"Wha? Why?" Jaden mumbled, only half-awake.

"We need to go," Bastion repeated, pulling Jaden up in a standing position. Once Jaden was up, he nodded at Alexis. Jaden's cards and duel disks were in his one hand, and he had a firm grip of Jaden's wrist in the other. "What's next?"

While Bastion had been rounding up Jaden, Alexis had been staring at Jaden's cards and duel disks. Probably surprised either of them had those items at all, if Bastion had to hazard a guess. When Bastion spoke, however, she snapped out of it. "I'm going to make sure everyone gets out," she told them. She pointed her thumb in a direction. "The exit's that way. Keep going and don't turn back. There'll be someone there to help you."

Bastion nodded. "Got it." 

Alexis ran out of the room, and Bastion and Jaden were soon to follow. However, they didn't get very far until Jaden pulled Bastion to a stop. Bastion looked back, prepared to say something, but Jaden beat him to it.

"Yo, Boston--"

"It's Bastion," Bastion corrected him correctly.

"Right, yeah. We have to go get Yubel!" He was looking around, as if he just processed the whole situation. Like he just realized they'd gotten out of that room. For a second, Bastion thought he saw a flicker of something gold in Jaden's eyes, but he blinked, and it was gone.

"Alexis is going to get everyone out of here," Bastion told him. "I'm sure she'll help them out, too."

"No, Yubel isn't here." Jaden shook his head. "She's not, she's... They took your cards. Do you want them back?"

"What?" Bastion blinked.

"They're probably keeping her in the same place as your cards," Jaden explained. "I know where it is. We can get them back."

Bastion hesitated. This wasn't part of Alexis' plan, but... By this point, he trusted Jaden. There's no way Jaden would wittingly lead him into a trap or any sort of danger. Jaden wanted to help someone, and Bastion  _did_ want his cards back. He glanced over at Alexis.

Alexis nodded. "I'll direct everyone to follow you," she told them. "Get your cards back."

Now it was Jaden tugging Bastion forward, leading him in the opposite direction. They took turns through hallways Bastion didn't recognize. He didn't have the time to figure out where they were. It was all he could do to keep up with Jaden. After a few more turns, they stopped, and Bastion knew they were in the right place. They were so close.

Yet not close enough. An Obelisk Force member stood in their way; Bastion barely still recognized the uniform. They would have to duel their way through. He looked over at Jaden, and he wasn't imagining it this time. His eyes were flickering back and forth between their normal brown and that unsettling gold. Jaden was losing control, it seemed, and the duel opponent standing in front of them was a member of the Academy, an organization with which Jaden was still technically aligned. Jaden was the only one between the two of them with a deck to duel with, but Bastion could understand if he had any reservations.

"I can duel him, if you want me to," Bastion told him. He knew Jaden's deck well enough; he could hold his own. "It'll be okay. We'll find your friend."

At that moment, Jaden's eyes settled into gold, and The Supreme King stared back at him.

"No. I can handle this," The Supreme King said, snatching his deck and duel disk out of Bastion's hand. Bastion could almost hear the implied,  _I'm not weak, I can do this_. 

"Okay," Bastion relented, taking a step backwards.

This wasn't only his second encounter with The Supreme King. Since that first conversation, The Supreme King had returned more than a few times, usually without much warning. The more Bastion and The Supreme King had spoke, the more it had been clear that The Supreme King was just another side of Jaden. They shared memories and shared opinions (at least to a degree, Bastion still couldn't be entirely certain), even if they had completely different personalities. The presence of The Supreme King, of course, was still terrifying and hard to be in. Bastion could feel that pressure, that darkness, and the fear inside him bubbling up already. But he was a bit more used to it by now. He could handle it, for a short time.

That poor Obelisk Force member standing a few feet ahead, though. He had no idea what was going on, but the terror was still obvious in his partially obscured face.

The Supreme King shoved his deck into his duel disk's card slot and turned to stare his opponent down. "You can have the first move."

The Obelisk Force member's turn went like clockwork. If Bastion remembered correctly, all members of the Obelisk Force used the same deck, and the same strategies, so this wasn't all that surprising. At the end of his turn, the Obelisk Force member was able to summon Ultimate Ancient Gear Hound to his field, along with a card face down in his spell and trap zone. He was still shaking, but there was a smirk on his face. The Supreme King was down to 2000 life points with Ultimate Ancient Gear Hound's effect. He thought he stood a good chance. 

"You think you can win." The Supreme King lifted his chin. "But I'll put you back in your place. It's my turn; I draw." He drew and looked briefly over the cards in his hand. 

Bastion glanced briefly over at the Obelisk Force member. He was scowling now, looking through his own hand. Bastion looked back at The Supreme King.

"From my hand, I play Pot of Greed," The Supreme King announced, playing the card he had just drawn. "This allows me to draw two cards from my deck and add them to my hand." Now The Supreme King was at a total of seven cards in his hand. "Next, I activate the spell card Dark Fusion!"

Bastion stared. He knew Jaden's cards; he knew Jaden didn't  _have_ that card. He could see the card The Supreme King was holding out in his hand. That was Polymerization, not Dark Fusion. 

Right in front of him, however, Bastion watched as Polymerization was enveloped in darkness. The darkness grew and grew until Bastion couldn't see the name of the card anymore, or even the card art. The darkness spread from Polymerization to the other cards in The Supreme King's hand, and soon enough, began to take over his deck. For a few seconds, all Bastion could do was stare into the darkness, and then it was gone. The card The Supreme King was holding out now stated it was Dark Fusion. He played it.

"I fuse together the Elemental Hero Burstinatrix and Elemental Hero Avian in my hand." The two aforementioned Elemental Heroes appeared briefly on the field, their faces as cold and expressionless as The Supreme King's. "Flame and wind, meld into the supreme darkness and demolish the unworthy! Fusion Summon!" He folded his hands together over his head, then brought them down in front of his face. The Academy's style of Fusion Summoning. "Come on out: Evil Hero Inferno Wing!"

With a wave a hot air, the Evil Hero descended onto the field. The Obelisk Force member's duel disk was programmed with the Augmented Reality Combat System, making all monsters on the field real, and in Inferno Wing's case, Bastion could feel it. Darkness rolled off of her almost as strongly as it did from The Supreme King. It was as if the darkness corrupting Jaden was corrupting his monsters as well. The Obelisk Force member was shaking.

"Next, I summon Evil Hero Infernal Gainer," The Supreme King continued. Infernal Prodigy appeared. It was a low level monster without much attack nor defense, and Inferno Wing didn’t have enough attack to beat Ultimate Ancient Gear Hound. But surely The Supreme King had a plan. 

“Next, I equip Inferno Wing with Element Sword,” The Supreme King continued. “When Inferno Wing attacks a monster with a different Attribute, it gains 800 attack.”

The Obelisk Force Member was becoming more and more nervous with each card played. Evil Hero Inferno Wing was a Fire Attribute monster, and Ultimate Ancient Gear Hound was an Earth Attribute monster. Element Sword's effect would give Inferno Wing a boost just big enough to make it the stronger monster.

"Time to battle." The Supreme King gestured forward with his free hand. "Evil Hero Inferno Wing attacks Ultimate Ancient Gear Hound!"

"W-wait! I activate my trap!" the Obelisk Force member shouted as he revealed the trap. "Fusion Dispersal! When your Fusion Monster declares an attack, I can...I can send it back to your Extra Deck and end the Battle Phase! And...and then--"

The Supreme King narrowed his eyes. "Due to Dark Fusion's effect, Inferno Wing can't be targeted by your spells, traps, or card effects this turn," he interrupted, malice rising in his voice. "The battle continues."

"What?!" The Obelisk Force member shouted.

The attack continued. Inferno Wing destroyed Ultimate Ancient Gear Hound with a blaze of fire, and the Obelisk Force member took 100 points of battle damage. 

"When Inferno Wing destroys your monster, you lose life points equal to whichever is higher, your monster's attack or its defense," The Supreme King said.

Ultimate Ancient Gear Hound's attack was higher, forcing the Obelisk Force member to take 2800 points of effect damage. He was down to 1100 life points, putting The Supreme King in the lead.

"I activate Infernal Gainer's effect," The Supreme King continued. "By removing it from play, Inferno Wing gets to make a second attack."

The Obelisk Force member screamed as he was engulfed in blue flames. His life points dropped to zero, and just like that, the duel was over. The Supreme King won. 

Part of Bastion was impressed. The Supreme King had managed to win on the second turn of the duel. But at the same time, the style of dueling was harsh, brutal, and not at all how Jaden seemed to enjoy to play the game. All he could think was how grateful he was that he hadn't been on the other side of this duel. 

He stared down at the Obelisk Force member as the flames dissipated. The Obelisk Force member was lying on the ground, motionless. For a brief moment, Bastion was oddly reminded of rumors he'd once heard; rumors about a child whose duels would send people into comas.

Bastion didn't get the chance to dwell on it. The Supreme King glared down at his former opponent. "The battlefield is no place for fools," he stated simply as he stepped over him and into the area that was being guarded.

Meanwhile, Bastion stayed frozen in place, unable to do anything except watch. 

The Supreme King paused and glanced back at him. “You want your cards, right? Come on.”

At that, Bastion followed after him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My little horse must think it queer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq681aDM53U)  
>  To stop without a farmhouse near
> 
> He gives his harness bells a shake  
> To ask if there's been some mistake.
> 
> The woods are dark, lovely and deep,  
> But I have promises to keep,  
> And miles to go before I sleep,  
> And miles to go before I sleep.
> 
> [-Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42891/stopping-by-woods-on-a-snowy-evening)

It took Bastion only a few minutes to find what he was looking for. But here they were: his main deck and his duel disk. Water Dragon’s card was looking up at him. With a smile, Bastion put his duel disk on his arm and slid his cards into the spot. He’d have to tinker with his duel disk later, if he got the chance; the field generated by Academy duel disks formed a sword shape he wasn’t a big fan of, but maybe he could change it.

Once he had what he needed, Bastion located The Supreme King once again. He had retreated to a corner of the room, picking up a single card in his hand. “Sorry for not being here,” he whispered. The Supreme King slid the card into his deck, which automatically shuffled itself. Then he looked over to see Bastion watching him.

”We should get going,” Bastion told him. “Before anything else happens.”

Other people (prisoners, Bastion could assume) were starting to filter into the room and reclaim their cards. Neither Bastion nor The Supreme King wanted to wait to see if they were friend or foe. Bastion grabbed The Supreme King by the arm again and quickly led them out of the room.

It was easy enough to find their way back to where they started by following the trail of people running in the opposite direction. Soon enough, they reached the room where they had been held all this time. The Supreme King began to slow down behind him, but Bastion pulled ahead, dragging him along. They ran past the room, and towards the exit point Alexis had mentioned before. 

Suddenly, two Obelisk Force members jumped out into their path. Both had high level Fusion Monsters already summoned to the field, looming over them.

Before Bastion could react, he could feel the muscles in The Supreme King’s arm tighten. The Supreme King drew a card from his deck and placed it on the field without looking at it. “Please, Yubel,” Bastion barely heard him whisper.

Bastion blinked, and the Fusion Monsters were gone, destroyed. The Obelisk Force members were defeated. All that was left on the field was a monster, the monster The Supreme King had summoned. Just from looking at them, Bastion could tell they had mass, real mass, like the ARC System could provide. But the duel was over. The Supreme King’s duel disk wasn’t made with the ARC Syatem, so this monster should just be a hologram.

So, this was Yubel?

As Bastion stared up at her, she flashed him a toothy smile.  _Thanks for keeping an eye on him_ , he thought he heard a voice in his head say. Maybe he just imagined it.

Regardless, it was good that Jaden had his friend back. Better still that his friend was such a powerful ally.

Yubel stuck around as Bastion pushed onwards. Together, they all reached the exit point, and left Duel Academy. Bastion wished he could stop to relish the sight of the outdoors once again and commit it to memory, but there was no time.

They weren’t the first to reach this point. Others were already running on ahead, directed by someone Bastion assumed was probably working with Alexis. He had spiky black hair and a completely black outfit, jacket included, that didn’t match the Academy uniform whatsoever; he was really committed to the aesthetic. This guy was directing people onwards, giving out instructions towards their destination: some sort of underground safe haven, supposedly. 

Bastion and The Supreme King kept running ahead, following everyone else. Bastion peeked up briefly at the sky; at some point Yubel must have been destroyed or removed from the field, because she was gone now. As long as they kept moving, though, it probably wouldn’t matter. Bastion kept pulling The Supreme King, who was moving slower and slower and dragging further behind, ahead to their destination. Behind them, they could hear the sound of a giant dragon smashing an Ancient Gear monster to pieces.

”We’re almost there!” someone yelled. Maybe there was hope for this after all.

A shadow loomed over the crowd. Bastion looked up. A Fusion Monster loomed over them: Chaos Ancient Gear Giant. No other monsters were around; whoever had the dragon Bastion had seen earlier, the dragon must have been destroyed. Yubel was no longer on the field. From the look on The Supreme King's face, he had no interest in dueling. Bastion was exhausted from running and pulling The Supreme King along with him, so he wasn't capable of dueling at the moment. Alexis didn't seem to be close enough by to duel. How were they going to handle this?

"Chaos Ancient Gear Giant, attack!" A voice called out, closer than Bastion had expected the Obelisk Force duelist to be.

How were they supposed to win a duel they couldn't duel in?

"I activate my trap: Mirror Force!" Another voice called out. "When my opponent's monster declares an attack, I can destroy all of my opponent's monsters in attack position!"

"Intrusion Penalty: 2,000 life points," a quieter, robotic voice added.

Out of the corner of his eye, Bastion watched as another duelist swooped down from the air, riding some sort of giant, flying insect duel monster. This duelist had messy blue-green hair, a blue jacket, and a light purple shirt; this outfit didn't look much like any of the Duel Academy uniforms, either. He jumped down from the monster and landed towards the front of the crowd, where the Obelisk Force duelist seemed to be as well. Bastion could barely make out a scowl on the Obelisk Force duelist's face. Chaos Ancient Gear Giant was destroyed.

"I end my turn," the Obelisk Force member spat.

"Not so fast!" The other duelist was still wincing from the intrusion penalty, but there was a smile on his face despite it all. "I activate the quick-play spell: Level Down! By returning Ultimate Insect LV7 to my deck, I can Special Summon Ultimate Insect LV5 from my graveyard!"

The giant insect disappeared, and was replaced by a smaller, ground-bound insect. 

"Alright, my turn!" The duelist drew a card from his deck and briefly analyzed his hand. "Ultimate Insect LV 5's effect activates! During my Standby Phase, I can send it to the graveyard and Special Summon Ultimate Insect LV 7 from my deck! Come on back, buddy!"

The smaller insect disappeared and was replaced by the original insect the duelist had arrived with.

The Supreme King frowned. "Why go through all of that just to bring back the monster he already had summoned?"

"Probably Ultimate Insect LV7's effect," Bastion commented. "It lowers your opponent's monsters' attack and defense by 700, but the effect only works when Ultimate Insect LV7 is summoned by Ultimate Insect LV5's effect. His opponent doesn't have any monsters out, so it might not do him much good. Maybe he's trying to anticipate his opponent's moves." If his opponent blocked his attacks, maybe, or tried to special summon during his turn. Truth be told, though, Bastion had no idea what was going through this newcomer's mind.

"Next I play the field spell Rising Air Current," the duelist continued, sliding the card into the field spell slot. "My pal gains 500 attack, but loses 400 defense. And from my hand I summon Insect Knight! Now let's battle. Ultimate Insect LV7, Insect Knight, direct attack!"

Both of the monsters' attack combined were more than enough to take the Obelisk Force duelist's life points down to zero, and apparently he had nothing to counter with.

As the duelist's monsters disappeared, the guy dressed in black from earlier approached him. "What took you so long, Jesse? We could have used you earlier, you clown!" 

The duelist, Jesse, laughed as he ran a hand through his hair. "You know how it is, Chazz! Gotta keep the suspense up for the audience!"

Chazz groaned, slapping his own face. "You can't be serious. This isn't the time for that, you  _know_ that."

"Well, uh, if I'm completely honest with ya, I got lost on the way here," Jesse admitted, still laughing.

"Somehow that might almost be  _worse_ ," Chazz complained. 

Grinning, Jesse turned to face the crowd of escapees behind them. "We're almost there, y'all!" he announced, pointing ahead. "It's this way!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [I can hardly hear you say, "What should I do?" Well, you choose](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV36Yp1UvJI)  
>  Oh, look what you've done, you've made a fool of everyone  
> Oh, well, it seems like such fun until you lose what you have won

At some point, Alexis approached them. She frowned as she looked him over. "Dr. Misawa, I hope you don't mind if I have a few questions."

"Only if you don't mind that I have a few of my own," Bastion answered, struggling to pull himself into more of a standing position.

"No, that's fine. You can ask your questions first, if you want," she told him. "We're just trying to get a clear picture of what exactly is going on, and most of the holes in what we know involve you, unfortunately. We're working together here; we should help each other out."

"Absolutely, I agree." Bastion folded his arms over his chest. When Alexis first showed up, put a hole in the wall of their room, and said they were going to leave Duel Academy, Bastion hadn’t questioned it at the time. He was eager to leave at just about any cost at that point. And of coursr he’d brought Jaden with him. He couldn’t bare leaving Jaden alone in that cell like that, that wasn’t a life for anyone. Not to mention that willingly leaving someone as powerful as Jaden in the hands of the Academy was unthinkable. So at the time he just dragged Jaden alomg, and didn’t let him question it either. But now that he was out, he had to admit he had no idea what was going on. He didn’t know these people that just rescued them. He didn’t know their motives. For all Bastion knew, they could be just as bad as the Academy. But if they were, and they knew he was suspicious, that wouldn’t end well, either. So rather than that... “I know you said you would help us get out of Duel Academy when you showed up. And you did, and I’m incredibly grateful. But other than that, I have no idea what’s going on here. I don’t know what...” Uncertain, he trailed off.

”Right,” Alexis said with a nod. “You’re right, I didn’t have the time to explain before.”

”I know, don’t worry about that,” Bastion assured her. “Thankfully, we seem to have more time now.”

”Of course.” For a moment, Alexis paused. She stared at the ground and didn’t look up again as she started talking again, “We’re sort of...we’re a group of people who don’t agree with Duel Academy’s ideas and methods. I guess we’re sort of a rebellion group. We’re trying to make our own underground duel school here, but we haven’t had enough people for that. The main person in charge here is away, though, and we need him in order to do that anyway.

“I’m sure you saw Jesse and his Ultimate Insects earlier; he’s one of the first members we’ve had here, in a way. He was against Duel Academy almost from the beginning, and he did a lot to work against the Academy before he joined here, around the same time I did. Jesse’s never dueled much outside of necessity for our rebellion, and his strategies aren’t always the best, but he has a lot of talent and a real bond with his cards. He’s been a huge help, and one of our strongest allies.

”Even if you didn’t see Chazz’s Armed Dragons, you must’ve heard him yelling at someone at some point. Chazz and I...we were both students at Duel Academy, originally. I got there through my love for dueling; Chazz’s brothers forced him i to it in a quest for power, but he does like the game, too. We weren’t against the Academy at first, we were...I guess we didn’t realize what was actually going on. The Academy preached about strength and working towards a paradise for all people, and I bought it. The Academy even made me believe that weak duelists deserved to be carded, that it was okay. But when we invaded the XYZ dimension, and Chazz and i heard that the Academy was turning innocent bystanders into cards, too, it was too much. We couldn’t stand for that. So Chazz and I escaped along with another friend of mine. She was turned into a card, but Chazz and I were helped by the rebellion leader, Yusho Sakaki, and we’ve been here ever since, also some of the first members here.”

"Wait," Bastion interrupted her, eyebrows scrunching together. "People are being turned into cards? Invading the XYZ dimension?"

”The Professor’s plan to unite the four dimensions has started.” Alexis gave him an odd look. “I thought turning people into cards was your research. It’s a big part of that whole plan.”

”It is, but...” Bastion slid slightly downwards against the wall. “I had no idea it was finished, or being used.”

”And we had no idea that you apparently left the project.” Alexis sighed. “It looks like our information here doesn’t match up. From the way Duel Academy talked about your research, it sounded like you were still working on it to this day. They never mentioned that you apparently stopped, or that you were apparently imprisoned. They still hold you up as one of their best researchers; that’s why I recognized you, and why I was so surprised to see you there.”

Bastion laughed. “I can’t believe it. After all this time, they’re still trying to use me for something. I assure you, I never wanted any of this. I did the initial research on the subject, yes, but only because I knew it was possible. I never wanted it to go this far. The Academy kept pushing me to go further and further with it. Once I realized what was going on, I tried to sabotage the project in secret, but I was found out quickly. They’ve kept me locked away ever since. I don’t know how long it’s been, but it must’ve been awhile. The last time I overheard anything about my research, it sounded like they were struggling to make progress, and I didn’t know why Duel Academy even wanted the technology. I had my suspicions, but I guess now I know. They’re going to use the energy the cards have to unite the dimensions.”

”I wasn’t sure what to expect of you, being the person who started that research,” Alexis told him with a smile. “But I couldn’t have hoped for anything better. Given your research, I was worried...”

”Worried I’d be pro-Academy? Thankfully, no. But still, I deserve to lose my doctorate for this. Hell, they should take all of my degrees for this.” Bastion rubbed his hands against his temples with a sigh. “My research is more than a disgrace to everything science stands for. This is all my fault. I’m so sorry.” What would Dr. Eisenstein think of him now? Bastion slid down further against the wall. He never should’ve stuck his nose into what didn’t concern him. If he’d stayed in his lane, focused on inter-dimensional travel, none of this ever would have happened. The esteemed Dr. Misawa, indeed.

Alexis shook her head. “You never meant for this to happen,” she reminded him. “And if it wasn’t you, it could’ve been someone else. But you’re not the only person here who’s made mistakes. Most of us have something to atone for. I know I do. Look at it this way, Dr. Misawa: now that you’re out of Duel Academy, you have the chance to fix it.”

Fix it.

Of course!

”That’s it!” Bastion exclaimed. He pushed himself up to stamd up straight again. “Duel Academy wasn’t too interested in it at the time, but I did start research into turning cards back into people! If I can figure it all out, maybe we can turn this all around!”

Finally, it felt like they had hope.

Alexis and Bastion didn’t talk for much longer after that. They got their stories straight with each other, and finally they both had the full picture of what was going on. What had happened to the XYZ Dimension was horrible. It sounded like the dimension had been decimated, with everyone just about...gone, carded. The guilt only ate away at Bastion more. He owed it to the XYZ Dimension to try to save them all, no matter what it took.

After being stuck in just one tiny room with nothing to do for so long, and with no way to keep track of actual time, Bastion wasn't used to keeping track of time anymore. He didn't know how long he spent standing there, lost in his own thoughts, until he felt something tugging at his arm sleeve. He looked over. The Supreme King was staring at him with that usual, unreadable expression he often had on his face. Better that, though, than the few times Bastion witnessed pure anger washing over his face, directed at other people.

"Where are we?" The Supreme King asked.

Bastion looked around. "I'm not sure," he answered truthfully. "But we should be safe here."

"Why are we here?" The Supreme King asked.

He hesitated. "The Academy isn't the best place to be right now," he told him. "From the sounds of it, if we stuck around for too much longer, they might've tried to turn us both into cards."

"They wouldn't have succeeded," The Supreme King pointed out. "They aren't strong enough, I would've defeated them if they tried."

"What if it was the Professor? Or Serena or Yuri?" Bastion suggested.

The Supreme King didn't have an answer for that. Instead, he moved on to a different question. "When are we going back?"

Bastion looked around again. At all the escaped prisoners around them, at Chazz and Alexis and Jesse who were convening in the middle of everything and exchanging information, at the walls and the ceiling surrounding them. "I don't know."


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [You think compassion's a flaw, and you'll never let it show](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbt59pmT26E)  
>  You're sure you've hurt in a way that no one will ever know  
> (But someday, the weight of the world will give you the strength...)

Bastion was eager to start his research, and the rebellion force was more than happy to help him start it as well. Soon enough, Bastion was given the basics of what he needed to start out (a paper and a pen, which happened to write with purple ink, to solve the multitude of equations involved as well as just general note-taking), and he could get to work.

Perhaps, if circumstances were different, the Academy might've tried to get Bastion to continue working on his previous research even after he'd been imprisoned. It wouldn't have been too difficult. They could've given him resources to solve equations or document his thoughts, they could've increased security and stationed guards to make sure he was doing his job, they could've watched his every move to make sure he wasn't trying to sabotage projects again. But, as it was, Bastion was the biggest expert there was in that particular area of duel-related sciences. It would've been difficult to tell whether anything he was doing was helping the project or not; it'd been carelessness and test results that outed him. So, as it was, it'd been easier to take him off the project, even if it meant the project took longer. The Academy basically went out of its way to prevent Bastion from doing any sort of research at all. There was nothing for him to witness. There was nothing for him to write with, to try to take notes or write equations. They took his scientific, curious mind and placed it in a state of fear by putting him somewhere where he was more focused on survival than anything else. 

It had been far, far too long since Bastion had sat down with a pen and paper, since he got to do some actual  _math_.

There was a small table and a chair sitting out of the way, in a corner in the main area. There was a tiny desk in the room Bastion and Jaden had been given to sleep in (for now, the rebellion force had decided it was best to keep the two of them together). There were plenty of areas for Bastion to sit down and get his science on, and the rebellion force wasn't requiring him or forcing him to do anything. They shared a mutual goal: turning everyone who'd become cards into actual people again. These sorts of things took time, and Alexis and the others would just be happy if it was able to happen at all. It was relaxing, refreshing. Bastion was no slacker of course, and he as eager to finish this project as soon as possible, but he appreciated it nonetheless.

The biggest problem he faced with all of this was that his previous project had been finished without him. He was missing a lot of information as a result, it would make this a lot harder to reverse the process. He'd looked into this before, too, but it'd been so long that he'd forgotten most of his hypotheses and evidence. Still, he knew enough about all of this that it shouldn't be too difficult.

As Bastion scribbled down the equation for the conservation of energy that he needed, his mind wandered.

Jaden...hadn't been doing so well since they left Duel Academy.

Perhaps that statement was a bit too vague. Specifically, The Supreme King had been around more often since they left Duel Academy. Bastion didn't see much of Jaden these days, nor did anyone else. This caused most people to keep their distance from The Supreme King, and Bastion didn't blame them. The Supreme King was truly terrifying to just be around, and while Bastion was getting more used to his presence and was able to handle it better now, that didn't hold true for anyone else. The Supreme King himself was rather closed-off by nature, but he seemed to be more distant these days. He wouldn't answer any questions anyone directed at him, mostly only spoke to ask questions of his own, and Bastion got the feeling that if anyone looked at him the wrong way or said the wrong thing, it'd become a mistake they'd regret for the rest of their abruptly shortened life. Weirdly enough, though, The Supreme King continued to hang around Bastion for the most part, despite now having the option not to. He still made for good company, if not silent. But Bastion needed a lot of that right now anyway, if he was going to get any work done.

For the most part, it wasn't...the  _worst_ development. But something about it still felt off, and Bastion thought about it a fair amount during his free time. It was worrying.

He was able to get free time even from The Supreme King, however. Bastion's time imprisoned at Duel Academy must've severely messed with his sleep schedule, because some nights he was just completely unable to sleep when he should be able to. At these times, his mind would often still be working perfectly fine, so he'd just get back up and get some more work done. Some of his weirdest and best inspirations and ideas would come to him during these times, so he resolved to make the best of it. Still, he worked hard to fix his sleep schedule into something more normal.

It was during one of these times, Bastion finding himself completely awake before the sun had begun to rise, that Jesse Anderson approached him.

"Hope I ain't bothering you," Jesse greeted him, leaning against his table. 

"It's fine, I could do with a break," Bastion mumbled, still staring down at the current ten piece of paper he was working off of. He struggled to keep his voice flat; truthfully, he'd gotten himself stuck, and he'd rather not lash his frustration with the project against someone else. Jesse didn't deserve that.

"Your friend hangs around here an awful lot," Jesse commented. "Has he been helping you out?"

Bastion shook his head. "I haven't needed it. Science isn't really Jaden's thing, it'd probably just confuse him more than anything." Not to mention, The Supreme King probably didn't care about any of this at all, and there was the constant possibility that even asking The Supreme King to hold something in place could seal Bastion to a doomed fate. Better to stay on the safe side. He could work alone.

"Him and me both." Jesse snorted. "None of this makes a lick of sense to me, but I gotta say, it looks impressive. You'll get this figured out in no time at this rate."

"It's really not a lot, but thank you," Bastion said, a smile spreading slowly across his face. "This is mostly just the preliminary stuff. Theoretical. I know it can happen, since there's been instances where it's happened before, it's just about how to do it. It'll be awhile before I can do anything to make it reality. Even then, I'll need a lot of things I'm missing right now." He blinked. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know what Duel Academy's using to turn people into cards, would you?"

"Of course I do. It's something they've been putting on the duel disks," Jesse told him.

"What?" 

"From the sounds of it, it might not be on your duel disk," Jesse went on. "But it's definitely on Chazz's duel disk, and Alexis' duel disk, too, I'm sure. We don't use it at all, but it's not like we know how to just take it off. If you want to look at it, I can grab Chazz's duel disk if you like."

Bastion nodded, words failing him.

How could he have been so dumb? Why hadn't he thought to ask about this sooner? If they had access to the technology, it'd be a lot easier to reverse. Not to mention, if something like this could be implemented on a duel disk, that meant Bastion's current project could be implemented on one as well, and that'd save a lot of resources and time. He'd probably wasted a ton of time already, not asking this sooner. What a fool he was.

Jesse came back soon enough, holding Chazz's duel disk. "I know you will anyway, but be careful. We don't want to accidentally set this thing off. And, uh, don't tell Chazz I took his duel disk, I'll never hear the end of it," he added as he handed off the duel disk to Bastion. Bastion nodded and began fiddling with it immediately.

It was easy enough to find what he was looking for on the duel disk, since this model was very similar to the one Bastion had. It was easy still to dig in and figure out how the program worked without setting it off. And with as much knowledge Bastion had about the whole thing, it made enough sense to him to work out what was going on. This was great, this was fantastic, this would get him so much farther ahead. As he looked, he took down notes frantically. He didn't want to take too much time with this, but he wanted to get everything down in as much detail as possible. He couldn't forget a single part of this.

"Thank you," he said when he was done, handing Jesse back the duel disk. "You have no idea how much this helps me."

"No problem." Jesse flashed him a grin. "Glad I could help. I'm not the best duelist, especially compared to Alexis and Chazz and Yusho. I really only picked it up for the cause. So, it's nice to be able to help out in other ways. Anything I can do, you know?"

"Right," Bastion agreed. He looked over the notes again. There was no way he was going to be able to dissect this all and start using it now, but his enthusiasm stopped him from doing...nothing. His brain was in that weird state between excited and exhausted.

They sat in silence for awhile, Bastion staring at his notes and Jesse taking in the room around them. At some point, after what could've been two minutes or five hours (Bastion really needed to work on that, too), Alexis entered the room. When she saw Jesse and Bastion, she walked over to them.

"So, you both are up, too," Alexis noted.

"Sure are! The early bird gets the worm!" Jesse chuckled, glancing down at Bastion. "Though, uh, maybe in the good doctor's case, it's the night owl."

"I couldn't sleep. Figured I'd make myself useful," Bastion told them, still buried in his notes.

 "You don't have to worry about that," Alexis told him, waving a hand through the air. "You've been more than enough help already, and you'll definitely be a huge help in the future, too. Since you're here, though, I hope you don't mind if I ask you something."

"Of course not." Finally having the sense to look up at his conversation partners, Bastion pulled himself out of his papers and his thoughts. "What's up?"

Alexis looked away, taking stock of the room around her, before looking back at Bastion again. "It's about your friend, the one you were in the same room as in the Academy. We...we don't really know much about him," she admitted. "He hasn't been answering any of our questions, and we've never seen him or heard about him before. So, we were hoping you could help us out on that, if you don't mind."

"Ah." Bastion frowned. "I'm sorry about that, Jaden isn't normally like this. He hasn't...quite been himself, I suppose. I'm not really sure why, he's usually pretty nice and friendly."

"So who exactly is he?" Alexis pressed.

"His name's Jaden Yuki." Bastion leaned forward against the table, resting his chin on a hand. "He was recruited by Duel Academy at a very young age. He says he used to train alongside Yuri and Serena."

Alexis' eyebrows rose. "Those two? Weren't they recruited by the Academy when they were young, too?"

Jesse let out a low, quiet whistle. "He sure must be something if he managed that."

"He certainly is," Bastion agreed. "I’ve seen his cards and I’ve seen him duel. He’s really good, but it’s not just that. He’s...well... Have you ever heard of someone called The Supreme King?” Both Jesse and Alexis shook their heads. “It’s not just Jaden’s dueling skill. He’s full of this power, this darkness. The Professor intended to use it as a weapon for Duel Academy.”

”A weapon?” Jesse asked, eyes opened wide.

”Under the Professor’s control,” Bastion asked. “But it didn’t work. The Professor lost control over Jaden, and I think Jaden lost control of himself, and over his darkness. Whenever he loses control, it’s like he’s a different person, and he calls himself The Supreme King. The Professor calls him that, too. When the Professor was telling me about him...” No. Bastion couldn’t have imagined that, even if he’d wanted to. “...he almost sounded scared.”

”The Professor? Afraid of something?” Alexis stared at Bastion as if he’d grown a second head. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“I find it hard to believe, too,” Bastion said. “But I can understand why. Just being around Jaden when he’s in that state fills you with fear. Apparently, the first time it happened, he did something that hurt Duel Academy. He’s been locked away ever since, longer than I was.”

”Unbelievable. Not that I don’t believe you, but...wow,” Jesse breathed. “But how did the Professor find him in the first place, if he hadn’t used that power before?”

”That’s the big question,” Bastion muttered. “I can’t know for sure, but rumors have flown around in the darkest corners of Duel Academy about a duelist who was able to put people into comas. I think that might be Jaden, too.”

Alexis’ hand flew to her mouth. “I’ve think I’ve heard those rumors. Don’t the same rumors say that the duelist was a child?”

”Exactly the ones,” Bastion nodded. “Not all of Jaden’s memories are there, and some of the beliefs the Academy probably ingrained into him are probably set in stone in his mind. He doesn’t really understand what the Academy’s been doing, or why it’s bad.”

”Haven’t you told him?” Alexis asked.

”Believe me, I’ve tried,” Bastion responded. “He doesn’t get it. I don’t know how to tell him, at least in a way that’ll make sense to him.”

”Well, shoot,” Jesse mumbled. “I guess the real question is...can we trust Jaden? I mean, I’m surprised you’re still here and well, honestly, if all that’s true. If he just loses control...”

”He’s been in that ‘Supreme King’ state since we left Duel Academy. And he’s been like that while I was around before he left. As long as he’s not provoked, I think it’ll be fine,” Bastion answered. “His power is deinitely terrifying, but he doesn’t seem to use it unless he feels he has to, even when he’s like this. I don’t makes him lose control, or why he’s been like this for so long, but he probably won’t hurt anyone. I trust him, at the very least. And there’s no way someone with that power should’ve been left at the Academy, anyway.”

Alexis hesitated, then nodded. “I trust you. If you trust Jaden, I’ll have faith in that. But still, we should be careful. We don’t know what could happen in the future.”

”I’ll keep my eyes open!” Jesse promised.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [We gon' rock this club, we gon' go all night  
>  We gon' light it up like it's dynamite!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vysgv7qVYTo)

A few days passed without much incident. Bastion kept plugging away at his project, and while he was certainly making progress faster now than before, it was still going to take time. The Supreme King continued to quietly hanging around, observing everything and giving away nothing. Everything else was progressing probably as normally as it should be. Bastion didn't know what the usual activities around here were, but everyone was calm enough that he could make an educated guess. A few calm and productive days passed, and Bastion was happy with that. At the moment, that's what he needed.

Then, Yusho returned. 

He'd been out on some sort of scouting mission, apparently. He wasn't willing to divulge in any details, but he returned unharmed and everyone was happy enough with that. Several people who had actually met Yusho before were eager to welcome him back. When he saw how many more people were around with the rebellion, it made him smile. Alexis gave Yusho a report on the successful escape and rescue mission from Duel Academy, along with other events that had occurred since. Bastion didn't pay much attention to the whole thing since he was engrossed with the task at hand. But everything Yusho heard made him smile more, seemed to make him happier. And that seemed to lift the mood for many of the other people around, too.

Once Yusho was caught up with everything, he welcomed all the newcomers to the You Show Duel School. 

"With all this good news, we ought to celebrate!" Yusho announced. "I think we could all do with some entertainment."

The Entertainment style of dueling Yusho used, that he introduced to all the new duel school attendees, was nothing like Bastion ever experienced. He used to duel as a hobby, yes. Dueling had been fun for him, had been fun for his opponent, maybe even had been fun for a few observers. But there was a big difference between  _fun_ and  _entertainment_. Entertainment held more purpose. It wasn't just a way to pass time, it taught, helped spread messages. Not to say one was superior to the other, they both had their place, but it was something Bastion had never experienced before. Especially not with  _dueling_ , which these days he was starting to associate with conflict, war, and tearing apart people's lives. It was a change in perspective and mood that Bastion hadn't realized he needed. For the first time in awhile, he was able to watch the show with a genuine and joyful smile.

He was actually enjoying a duel.

At one point during the duel, Bastion glanced over at Jaden, who was still standing next to him. And Jaden's eyes...he was back to normal. The Supreme King was gone, for the time being. And he stayed gone for a couple of days.

Bastion's daily life was unchanged after Yusho's return for the most part. Jaden, however, became much more engaged with his environment now that he was himself again. He answered questions from Alexis and the others and made the effort to talk to them more. Mostly, he ended up talking with Jesse; Jesse asked him for advice on his deck one day, and the two of them spent countless time working on it since. It wasn’t an easy task, since Jesse didn’t have many cards outside what was already in his deck, and they had no way of getting more, but they made it work.

It was always nice to see these interactions whenever Bastion took a break from his work. Once in awhile, however, he’d notice Jaden ask a question that’d make the other person frown or physically take a step back. He hoped everything was going well.

Usually, a few times a day, Jaden would check in on Bastion and see how his work was going. He didn’t understand any of it, no matter how many times Bastion tried to explain it, but it was the thought that counted. Sometimes, it was exactly what Bastion needed, too; explaining his thought processes and notes out loud helped him see something he didn’t see before, or helped him get unstuck from his current wall. 

Bastion was making good progress. Jaden was doing well. Everything seemed to be taking a turn for the better. 

One day, Yusho told them, they needed to take a break from their tasks and practice dueling.

”Remember, this is a dueling school. We ought to duel once in awhile,” he pointed out. “But we’re not here to destroy our opponents, either. Whether we’re dueling our friends in here or dueling against Duel Academy out there, all participants in the duel should enjoy themselves. Dueling should make everyone smile.”

Most duelists iediately found a dueling partner to practice against. Others hesitated.

”Who’re you going to duel against, Jaden?” Alexis asked curiously. She, likely, would be able to be exempt from participation. She’d just gotten back from trying to get information on the Academy’s current movements. It had been a close call, too, the Obelisk Force had nearly gotten her. She needed a break at the moment more than anything. “Dr. Misawa, perhaps?”

”Just Bastion is fine, you know,” Bastion mumbled under his breath.

Jaden glanced over at Bastion, scratched an itch on his own shoulder, and then looked at Alexis again. “What if we made it into a tag duel?”

”I like the sounds of that,” Alexis agreed. “You’ll need two other duelists to duel against, though.”

”You can duel against me ‘n Chazz!” Jesse offered, running over to join the conversation. “It’ll be fun to see how ya’ll work together.”

”Aaaand of course you’re volunteering me for things again,” Chazz mumbled under his breath. He followed after Jesse at a much slower pace. 

“That’s fine with me! If, uh, if it’s cool with you, Bastion,” Jaden added, looking over at Bastion again. 

“I’m fine with it,” Bastion replied, pulling his deck out from a pocket. It hadn’t seen much use in awhile, he could go for a good duel. “Don’t expect much from me, though, it’s been a long time since I’ve actually dueled.”

Chazz snorted. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure you’re still better than this dweeb over here.” He pointed his thumb in Jesse’s direction. Jesse gasped in mock offense, placing a hand over his chest. Chazz rolled his eyes, but a smile was just barely noticeable on his face.

The four of them went into tag duel formation, and decided on team order. The order ended up being Chazz, Bastion, Jesse, then Jaden. They each drew their hands, and then it was time for Chazz to take the first turn.

"I summon Armed Dragon LV 3!" Chazz announced, placing the monster in attack position. The tiny dragon crouched on the field, staring at its two opponents. "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"My turn!" Bastion drew and glanced at his hand. Not a bad start, at least for him. "I play the field spell A Legendary Ocean! This card is treated like the field spell Umi. The levels of water monsters in all our hands and on the field are reduced by one, and all water monsters gain 200 attack and defense. I place one card face down and summon Giga Gagagigo." The giant, armored lizard stared down at Armed Dragon, which took a step back. By the rules of tag duels, no one would be able to attack until it got to be Jaden's turn, so Bastion ended his turn there.

"Looks like I'm up!" Jesse glanced briefly at the card he drew and smiled. "Armed Dragon LV 3's effect activates! During our Standby Phase, he can level up to Armed Dragon LV 5!" Chazz sent Armed Dragon LV 3 to his graveyard and special summoned Armed Dragon LV 5 from his deck. "Next I summon Ultimate Insect LV 3. But he won't be here for long! Next I play the spell card Level Up! Say hello to Ultimate Insect LV 5!" Ultimate Insect LV 3 disappeared as soon as it appeared, upgrading to its LV 5 form. Armed Dragon sniffed the air and sang happily. Jesse looked over at Armed Dragon, then back to his hand. "I activate Armed Dragon's effect! By sending Great Moth to the graveyard, I can destroy Giga Gagagigo!" 

"Not so fast. I activate my trap card: Memory Loss!" Bastion pressed a button on his duel disk to reveal the trap. "Armed Dragon's effect is negated, and its changed to face up defense position.

Jesse sighed. "I'll place two face downs. That's all from me."

”Time to get my game on!” After drawing, Jaden looked over his hand. It was clear Jaden had some options in what strategy he worked towards. Jaden glanced at Bastion. Bastion nodded; he trusted him. “I play the spell Polymerization!”

Cards could be tricky things. This time, the spell didn’t corrupt into its darker counterpart.

“Elements combine to help bring forth the ultimate hero! Fusion Summon! Elemental Heroes Avian and Bubbleman fuse together to create Elemental Hero Mariner!”

There was a short flash, and then Mariner was on Jaden’s field, front and center. Bastion smiled; he knew where this was going.

”Now, let’s battle!” Jaden announced. 

“Battle?! What are you, some kind of little clown?” Chazz stared at Mariner, trying to hold back a laugh. “At least, you can do basic math, right? Neither of your monsters have enough attack to take on my Armed Dragon.”

”Uh, Chazz, that might not...” Jesse scratched at his cheek.

”That’s where Mariner’s effect comes in,” Bastion told them. “Since we have at least one face-down spell or trap on our field, Mariner can attack you directly!”

”I figured as much,” Jesse mumbled, watching helplessly as Chazz stuttered incoherently and tried not to sponganeously combut before their eyes.

”Go, Mariner! Attack their life points directly!” Jaden announced the attack. Mariner ran forward and made the attack.

Chazz winced, but he was ready. “You’ve activated my trap: Attack and Receive! When we take damage, you receive 700 points of effect damage!”

Aaand there was the other shoe, dropping. With all the face-downs Jesse and Chazz had, they were bound to have a comeback. There was the shock, too. That was the thing about the ARC System, even effect damage felt more real. Bastion flinched, but Jaden quickly shrugged it off.

”Now that the Battle Phase is over...” Jaden pulled a card out of his rapidly thinning hand. “I activate the quick-spell De-Fusion! Mariner returns to the extra deck. Resurrect, Avian and Bubbleman!”

Mariner faded out until it was completely gone, and in its place, Avian and Bubbleman showed up in defense mode, straight out of the graveyard.

”But that’s not all! Now I tribute Avian and Bubbleman to summon Yubel to the field from my hand!”

Darkness washed over Jaden's part of the field. It grew, covered everything. In just a few seconds, it grew so thick that Avian and Bubbleman were no longer visible. Even then it continued to grow, barely confining itself to the edges of Jaden's field.

"What the hell?" Chazz mumbled.

It began to dissipate. Slowly, the darkness faded away again, thinning out, shrinking, until it was gone. When it fully cleared, Avian and Bubbleman were gone. In their place was Yubel. The same monster Bastion saw when they escaped the Academy. Yubel had seemed solid and real then, even without the ARC System implemented on Jaden's duel disk. Now, with Yubel summoned with the ARC System, they seemed more real than ever. They were in attack position, but they took a defensive stance in front of Jaden. They nodded at Bastion, and shot Jaden a grin. Jaden smiled back. For a moment, Bastion wondered who'd had the idea to summon Yubel in the first place.

Jaden gave Bastion a meaningful look. Bastion nodded at him. It was the end phase; Bastion knew what this meant. Jaden had his full cooperation on this one.

"Yubel's effect activates. I send Giga Gagagipo to the graveyard to keep Yubel on the field!" Jaden announced. Giga Gagagipo disappeared.

"After all those flashy effects, all you have left on your field is a monster with no attack and no defense," Chazz noted. He shook his head. "I don't even need Armed Dragon's effect to take care of this. This duel's about to be over."

Bastion sighed. He knew better than that. From the look of Jesse’s face, he might have been thinking along thr same lines; there was much more to Yubel than her attack and defense.

Chazz drew, but didn’t even bother checking the card. “Ultimate Insect’s effect activates! During the Standby Phase, it levels up to Ultimate Insect LV 7!” He barely waited for Jesse to level up the monster before he continued. “You won’t get another turn. I’m sure you monster has some kind of effect, but it won’t be enough to save you. Let’s battle! Armed Dragon attacks Yubel! You go bye bye!”

”Yubel’s effect activates.” Jaden smirked. “She’s not destroyed by battle, and I take no battle damage. Instead, you take damage equal to your monster’s attack points.”

”What?!” Chazz growled as the effect damage took place.

”Looks like their monster effect  _did_  save them!” Jesse pointed out.

”Shut it, Anderson,” Chazz mumbled. “I end my turn.”

Jaden laughed. “C’mon, Chazz! You gotta get your game on!”

The duel continued like that, a constant back and forth. Both teams matched each others’ blows pretty evenly, it was tough to tell who would win in the end. This didn’t stir any animosity, however. Everyone joked, laughed, and smiled throughout the whole duel. Bastion found himself doing the same. There was something about duels like this, duels that made everyone smile, that warmed his heart a little. It was lighthearted and almost healing, unlike the Academy’s warlike duels that practically sucked the energy and life out of you. In the end, none of them cared who won. It was fun, they’d gotten good practice in, and everyone was happy regardless.

There really was something to Yusho’s idea that duels should make everyone smile. 

Bastion turned to Jaden at the end, offering his hand for...a handshake, a high-five, something. “Thanks for being my duel partner. We made a great team.”

”Yeah! We should do it again sometime!” Jaden went in for a high-five, but stopped himself about halfway there. He pulled his hand away and shot Bastion a sheepish smile. Bastion shrugged. If Jaden didn’t want the physical contact, that was fine.

He didn’t miss the flicker of The Supreme King in Jaden’s eyes throughout the rest of the day, though.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Can you tell me what was ever really special about me all this time?  
>  Oh well, I guess we're gonna pretend](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d7EbtLb8ok)

Later on, Bastion retired to their room for the night. He was, once again, unable to sleep, so he stayed up and continued more work on his research. He worked by moonlight, sometimes barely able to read what he wrote down. Still, it was important not to make much noise, not to bring too much light into the room. He'd rather not keep Jaden up if he could help it. And, for a few hours, he thought he was doing a good job.

"I...think I remember now."

Apparently not. Still, Bastion didn't bring attention to it. He swung around on the chair he was sitting in it until he was sitting in the chair backwards to face Jaden. Though, that would be inaccurate. He could barely see Jaden, but it was clear that The Supreme King had made a return. Those golden eyes were pretty much the only thing Bastion could see in this darkness. He pressed on anyway. "Remember what?"

"What happened before the Professor put me in that room for so long." The Supreme King had huddled himself into a corner on the floor. His knees rested against his chest, his arms against his knees, and his head on top of his arms as he stared at Bastion with an expression that, after this long, Bastion still couldn't read. "The three of us trained together, but we never really... I barely knew them. They were just there. I was alone. I only really had myself...and the Professor. He pushed us all hard, every day. He wanted us to be strong. But...I was too weak, I wasn't strong enough to keep up with everyone else."

The Supreme King, considering himself weak? Now that Bastion knew what he was capable of, he had no idea what his minimum criteria of being 'strong' could be.

"This...darkness." Bastion felt the wave of darkness wash over the room, washing over himself and The Supreme King as well. As it held its icy grip over Bastion's heart, for a moment, he couldn't see anything in the room at all except for The Supreme King's eyes. Even the moonlight vanished. Then, it dissipated, and Bastion regained his limited visibility. "It's always been part of me. That's why the Professor brought me to the Academy. But I couldn't control it. Even now, I can barely control it. So when I couldn't take any more training, the darkness felt that and...responded. I responded. The darkness struck out at everything that was causing me pain, which in that moment was Duel Academy. And that was the first time anyone truly saw The Supreme King."

He took a long, deep breath. "Clearly, I was too weak. The Professor had no use for anyone who couldn't handle basic training. So he pushed me away and tried to forget the mistake he made in recruiting me."

Bastion shook his head. "You were too strong. The Professor wanted to control you, use you for his own plans. But he couldn't control you or your power, so he locked you away so you couldn't work against him."

"Strength is more than just power!" The Supreme King spat. Bastion flinched. "Power is meaningless if it cannot be used properly! Strength requires control and restraint. I attacked an ally I had no intention of harming. And as a result, I lost the only person I could rely on."

"If the Professor hadn't locked you away, you might've had the chance to learn that control," Bastion pointed out.

"I should have already learned control long before then," The Supreme King retorted. "Instead, years later, I'm still struggling. The way that I am now, I'm just weak. Useless."

The two of them were quiet for a few minutes. Bastion didn't dare argue further; clearly, The Supreme King was agitated, and continuing to agitate him further would lead to nothing good. Besides, in the end all it would do was prove The Supreme King's point. Bastion still didn't agree, making it best to stay quiet. Just as Bastion considered going back to the task at hand, The Supreme King spoke again.

"That duel earlier was strange." 

"Strange?" Bastion asked. "Well, if you're not used to tag dueling, I suppose..."

The Supreme King shook his head. "Ever since we've gotten here, dueling's been...weird. Everyone here duels for a purpose, and at the Academy we did, too, but it was...different. Here everyone talks about making people smile, or just dueling because they can. Duel Academy uses it as a tool of strength. By dueling we proved we were the best, that we could be a uniting force for everyone else. We used it to fight, to work towards Duel Academy's goals."

Bastion leaned back, away from his chair. "I got into dueling for fun," he said. "Playing the game, all the science behind it...I did it all for fun. It was interesting, I enjoyed all the strategies. And all of it was fun, until Duel Academy. Before, my work wasn't duel-related, and my research was on completely different topics. Everything I do now is out of necessity, and dueling hasn't been nearly as fun more recently, but it used to be."

The Supreme King stared at the floor. "I...I used to duel for fun, too," he mumbled. "I think I forgot that until today. But before I went to Duel Academy, and before all my friends started getting hurt, it used to be fun."

"It could be fun again, for both of us," Bastion suggested.

"I..." The Supreme King stared at Bastion. "We weren't supposed to have fun at Duel Academy. Dueling  _couldn't_ be fun, it was supposed to be a tool. A symbol of our strength. And we  _had_ to be strong, because Duel Academy was strong. I tried to have fun dueling at Duel Academy, but anytime I did..." He shook his head. "That's not what dueling's for."

It hit Bastion like a brick, suddenly. He should have realized it sooner. Well, he'd made hypotheses, and he'd had guesses, but it was so clear now. How much of the person sitting in front of him was Jaden Yuki, and how much was opinion and ideas forced onto him by the Academy? At this point, Bastion could only assume it was more of the latter than the former. And at some point, it became to much for Jaden. Jaden, The Supreme King, was not a malicious evil force bent on destroying everything around him. He wasn't destructive and 'uncontrollable' (in the eyes of the Academy) by nature. It was stress, overwork, that unleashed The Supreme King and made him what he was. Ironically, the Professor had created the very 'monster' that he feared. And ever since, Jaden still seemed unable to completely pick up all the pieces of himself, to get rid of everything the Academy had tried to turn him into, and to once again become truly himself. Though, with time away from Duel Academy, perhaps Jaden would recover faster.

Maybe Jaden and The Supreme King weren't so different from each other as Bastion had initially thought.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [Hey! There's an endless road to rediscover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxIiPLVR6NA)  
>  Hey! Do you believe in one another?  
> (What if I lose it all?)

Perhaps some fresh air would do Bastion some good.

This project wasn't going anywhere fast. He was stuck again. But it wasn't because the project was impossible, or too hard; no, the science was all there, it was possible, Bastion was so close he could feel it. The problem was just...he didn't feel well. He wasn't sleeping well, for sure, Bastion kept waking up already exhausted and would only get worse throughout the day. He'd gotten migraines every day for the last...however long time was. And usually by the end of the day, it felt like someone had smacked him on the side of the head as hard as the could with a baseball bat. Maybe it was the migraine. Hell if Bastion knew. He was tired. He felt awful. He was tired.

So, maybe he needed a break. A break from the science, a break from the stress it brought, a break from thinking. 

Yusho was more than happy to let Bastion take a short, day-long vacation. In fact, he encouraged it. "Your own health is the most important thing, whether it be physical, mental, or emotional. You've done so much already, you've made progress far quicker than I would hope for. You need it, and you deserve it. Take a few days if you want."

Well, not to mention that Bastion wasn't able to make much more progress when he wasn't at his best anyway. So he took Yusho up on that, took the break. Perhaps some fresh air would do Bastion some good.

As he stepped outside and really got a good view of the area around him, without any distractions, Bastion realized he wasn’t unfamiliar with this area. He’d been here before, he’d walked through here multiple times. This was part of a path to his previous job, he was pretty sure, one of the paths he took occasionally if he wasn’t in a rush. He’d had no idea he’d been walking past what would become an underground duel school whenever he’d walked past, eager to ask Dr. Eisenstein about today’s inter-dimensional travel goals.

Dr. Eisenstein...he hoped his previous coworkers and employers were all doing well, safe from this war. They were all great people working on a revolutionary project. They deserved better than what he did.

His feet began to do the walking for him. He hadn’t even realized he’d been walking at first; now, he noticed, he had actually started walking towards his old job. Was that research still even being worked on? Had the project been finished, or abandoned? Did Duel Academy find some way to take it over, if they’d invaded the XYZ dimension? Bastion wouldn’t be surprised at this point. If he even could go back, would they take him? He suspected not. If his own work hadn‘t already disgraced his name, Duel Academy had probably found a way to.  They were all probably disappointed in him.

No, this was a bad road to go down. He couldn’t do this, not today. He’d already been down this road many times recently, but today was about recovery and a change of scenery. He’d fix his mistakes. He’d make things right.

Bastion took a left before reaching the old workplace, down a more cramped avenue. 

As he walked, he considered duel energy. Like any other form of energy, duel energy had its equations, and could be converted. But maybe he was looking at this from the wrong angle, or at least, needed to look at this problem from multiple perspectives. Like how sound be considered from the perspectives of both psychology and physics. There was certainly a physics perspectives to this problem, but perhaps the biological part shouldn’t be ignored. He was, after all, reconstructing a living person. If only he’d studied biology more...

Abruptly, Bastion had to stop when he actually bumped into someone. He really ought to be paying more attention.

”Sorry,” he mumbled, loud enough to be heard but hopefully quietly enough that his voice didn’t give him away. Thankfully, the underground duel school had long cloaks so its members could disguise themselves when they went outside; the cloak Bastion was wearing covered his face enough that he wasn't recognizable by looks.

"Watch where you're going," the other person said. "How typical of traitors, to be so rude."

Bastion paused, turned around, and actually got a good look at the person he bumped into. Apparently, he'd bumped into a member of the Obelisk Force. And apparently she recognized him, enough so to identify him as a 'traitor'. Shit. What could he do? Were there any escape routes? The second he looked around, Obelisk Force duelists began to surround the immediate area. This was bad. This was getting really bad. At least Bastion had had the sense to go out with his deck on him, but would he win a duel out here?

"Perhaps I'll forgive your rudeness," the original Obelisk Force member went on with a smirk. "If you can win in a duel, that is."

Of course. At least Duel Academy was more predictable these days. Bastion activated his duel disk. "You may have the advantage in numbers, but don't think that'll guarantee your victory. Your odds of winning are still rather low compared to mine."

(A good bluff could go a long ways.)

She laughed. "Oh, I never said we were going to duel you. You're in for a treat. You get the honor of dueling the Battle Beast!"

"The what now?" Bastion asked.

The Obelisk Force member gave no answer. She pushed a button on her duel disk, and then the Obelisk Force vanished from the area. But Bastion was smart enough to realize that he wasn't out of danger yet.

Sure enough, he spotted glowing eyes just around the corner of a building nearby. The robotic voice of Bastion's duel disk informed him that a duel was starting, with him as one of the participants. Unwilling to look away from what was undoubtedly his opponent, Bastion drew his starting hand. At least his duel disk let him know when it was his turn. Very user-friendly of Duel Academy. Bastion's turn was first; he summoned Oxygeddon, placed a card face down, and ended his turn.

His opponent's deck turned out to be a tricky one, and a very frustrating one, too. Their monsters had effects that shuffled themselves back into the deck, and special summoned others. This allowed them to summon stronger monsters very quickly, and sometimes make more attacks during the Battle Phase. Their trap cards protected their monsters, and a spell card allowed them to make use of monsters in their graveyard. It was a very strong combo, indeed. But, perhaps Bastion could still handle it. 

"I activate my trap: Bonding - DHO!" Bastion announced. "By shuffling Hydrogeddon and Duoterion from my hand and Oxygeddon in my graveyard back into my deck, I can special summon Water Dragon Cluster! Water Dragon Cluster negates the effects of your monsters for the rest of this turn, and their attack is reduced to zero."

Water Dragon Cluster was stronger than most of the monsters his opponent had played so far. But, of course, that didn't mean anything. Within a couple of turns, his opponent pulled out an equip spell. Mask of the Accursed, equipped to Water Dragon Cluster, prevented it from attacking, and caused Bastion to take damage during his opponent's turn.

Strong as Water Dragon Cluster was, it didn't do much good if it couldn't attack. Bastion couldn't even use its effect to bring out Water Dragon; Gladiator Beast's Medusa Shield would negate it. It didn't matter that Water Dragon Cluster was still the strongest monster on the field -- soon enough, Bastion would lose due to effect damage. He was already down to 1,000 life points.

In the blink of an eye, he was down to 500.

During his Main Phase 2, Bastion hesitated. Was there anything he could do here? As soon as he ended his turn, he would lose.

He couldn't end his turn.

Ending his turn was the only thing he could do now.

Glowing eyes stared him down, glared at him. He could feel the impatience, the malice, in that stare. They wanted him to end his turn. They wanted to destroy him.

There was nothing he could do.

He had to end his turn, so he did.

As soon as his opponent drew, Bastion was finished, and he was pretty sure he knew what that would mean. He could see his own hands shaking.

"Intrusion penalty. 2,000 life points," something droned.

"My turn! I draw!" Someone behind Bastion yelled.

He turned around. There, running towards him, was Jaden Yuki, duel disk activated, six cards in hand. He stopped next to Jaden and immediately began calculating his next move.

"Jaden?" Briefly, Bastion saw a golden flicker of The Supreme King in Jaden's eyes. Jaden looked at him. "Why are you here?"

"Yubel saw that you needed help. She told me where you were, so I got here as fast as I could," Jaden answered.

"But you..." Damn, Bastion was still tired. His brain wasn't catching up as fast as it should. "You came all the way out here to help me?"

"You..." Now Jaden was hesitating. He bit his lip. "You're important. The school needs your project for its goals." He interrupted himself, shaking his head. "You're strong. We need you for..." He went on, seemingly fishing for the right words. "I like hanging out with you? Um......wait!"

Jaden paused, looking Bastion in the eyes. "Of course I came to help you. We're friends!" he told him with a smile.

"We're friends," Bastion agreed, smiling back.

Jaden held out a hand. Bastion reached out, and the two of them exchanged a high five.

**Author's Note:**

> There are still promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep. But here we are, at the end. Thank you for reading, and for making it this far. This was so much fun to write, I'm glad I can finally show this off to y'all.  
> If you're ever looking for me, you can find me [here](http://datanamines.tumblr.com/).


End file.
